A Chemist in King Ainz's Court
by The Blight
Summary: Ainz endeavors to strengthen Nazarick through political intrigue and undead soldiers. But he is under utilizing a very important power the people of earth possess: science. Luckily he has a friend he can rely on, someone who can use their scientific knowledge to discover not only ways to strengthen Nazarick, but also the truths behind their new world. (discontinued)
1. A Breath of Fresh Air

The throne room of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick currently hosted a myriad of beings. Kneeling before the throne were 54 individuals: A well dressed demon with a metallic tail, sporting a pair of small circular spectacles that appeared glued to his face, an elephant-sized, six-limbed, icy-blue beetle with quivering mandibles, an alabaster succubus with wings as black as freshly cut onyx, a juvenile silver-haired vampire wearing a byzantium purple evening gown, a steely-haired butler with a face that looked to be chiseled from stone, a pair of dark elf children with ambiguous genders, a group of six humanoids in aggressively superfluous maid uniforms, and finally, another forty-one homunculi wearing slightly more practical maid uniforms.

The ones who had the ability to make facial expressions were showing varying degrees of confusion, shock, and embarrassment.

A loud and confident voice rang from the front of the room, "You heard me correctly, I want your waste. Urine, feces, excrement, peepee and poopoo and what not."

"Genjiro-san, are you sure you know what you're doing?" The confused reply came from a fleshless face with dancing red embers inside the eye-sockets.

"Ainz, it's fine, I have a plan," Genjiro once again turned to the crowd assembled before the throne, "More precisely, to all of you who produce waste, I would like you to deposit it in the deep storage unit I just placed in the restrooms on the 9th floor."

Genjiro, the level 100 destageist, had the ability to possess different bodies, and was currently possessing a Stygian mantis, a race composed of humanoid praying mantises with obsidian colored exoskeletons, and claws sharper than any blade.

"Aura"

"Y-yes." the elf stuttered, likely surprised at being addressed so suddenly

"I'd also like it if you collected the urine of whatever beasts you have on this sixth floor."

"Understood"

"Excelent"

His black antenna and compound eyes flicked back to Ainz, "We both agreed that we should be doing everything in our power to strengthen Nazarick. But I am not a necromancer who can make an army of undead, nor am I adept at dealing with politics and intrigue. And it is also likely a waste of time for me to look for other guildmates who may have ended up in this world. So I'll strengthen Nazarick the best way I know how."

Genjiro stood up a little taller and the red glow from inside Ainz's eye-sockets reflected in each of the thousands of sections on his compound eyes. "I was quite the chemist back is our world."

A tavern in the Baharuth Empire, 2 weeks prior

 _Perhaps the ruckus of happy drunken men isn't such an unpleasant thing. This would've been rare to achieve atmosphere of community and mirth back in my world_. In the corner of the bar sat a man deep in thought

Everything about the man shouted the word "grey". He appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He had a pale brown face with squinted, ash-grey eyes. His short black hair was hidden underneath a grey hooded cloak. Underneath his cloak was a black and grey set of what appeared to be some kind of leather armor. His dark pants ended at his grey leather boots, worn looking and embellished with steel.

 _Speaking of which, what even is this world? A couple hours ago I had managed to log into YGGDRASIL during its final minutes to share my final thankyous, apologies, and goodbyes with the guild. It had been almost six months since I logged in. . .Momonga was the only one on, I feel a little guilty about that. I was too far away to make it to Nazarick before the shut down so we had shared our farewells over [Message] as I watched the clock tick toward midnight._

At his hip rested two scabbards. On his right was a long, dark-grey scabbard with runic characters engraved in it across it's entire length, in the middle of the characters was an image of a sun. Sticking out of it was the somewhat normal looking hilt of a sword, the only exceptional part being the pale white spark floating in the center of its ring pommel. On the left side of his hip rested the much shorter scabbard of a dagger. It was completely made of steel, and had been completely covered with intricate engravings of all kinds; vines, animals, plants, bones, and its largest engraving at its center was image of a crescent moon. Just like the sword, the hilt of the dagger was unexceptional, except this time, the stark black pommel bore the shape of a tomoe's comma.

 _Next thing I know I'm in this brand new world and still in this body, er, I guess I should say both of these bodies. I'm glad I was possessing a human body before the switch._ He looked over and saw two drunken men fiercely debating the merits of buxom and flat-chested women _.This doesn't seem like the kind of world where a creepy ass skull-faced ghost can just float around in peace. At the very least, I've confirmed that no one seems to know about YGGDRASIL or earth. (Idiots_ , _I'd definitely pick a women with a tasteful balance)_

He sighed and looked back down and rested his hand on the pommel of the sword, _It also seems that not only can I use all of my items and abilities from YGGDRASIL, but also that i'm impossibly strong here_.

There was a loud clamour of glass breaking and he looked up just in time to see one of the men tackle the other to the ground and scream "YOUR WIFE BREASTS ARE SO SMALL I BET HER NIPS LOOK LIKE MOSQUITO BITES!" and receiving reply of "YEA, BUT HER DICK IS BIGGER THAN YOURS!" before both of them promptly received a fist from the tavernkeep and being 'escorted' out of the bar.

Genjiro leaned back and looked at the little cracks in the wooden ceiling, _I should probably get going as well._

Genjiro walked down the cobbled street through the market district of the city, It was only two hours past sunrise and the place was already bustling with the sound of commerce. His level 100 ears couldn't help but pick up many bits of conversation as he pushed through the crowds:

"Did you hear about one of the members of Crystal tear getting married…?" _(I don't care)_

"Don't put that in your mouth dear!" _(keep your kid under control lady)_

"I hear the emperor is hosting a ball at…" _(I don't care)_

"Fresh meat for sale!" _(I'd love to sir but I don't have any of your currency)_

"I swear there is a place in Re-Estize full of stinky yellow brimstone…"( _they must be talking about sulfur, I should make note of that)_

"They say we're due for another war with the kingdom any time soon" _(Oh Yippee, there is war in every world)_

With a little bit of effort, Genjiro managed to make it to the city gates. One of the guards at the gate noticed him and came over

The guard wielded a spear and wore simple iron armor. He asked in a friendly manner "Not many people exit from the south gate, what brings you here?"

"I'm visiting a friend down south"

"The major roads don't extend in that direction, adventurers don't hunt there so there are a lot of monsters, you know that right?"

"I'm capable of handling myself" Genjiro said and put his hand on the pommel of his sword

Seeing this, the guard shrugged and said "alright, your funeral. Open the gate boys!"

The large wooden doors swung open and Genjiro thanked the guard and walked through.

He looked toward the south _I can sense my other possessions in that direction, wait for me momonga._

Genjiro could sense that his other possessions were far away and getting to them on foot would take a while, no doubt he wanted to see the glorious Great Tomb of Nazarick and his friend as quickly as possible and could simply equip a fly charm and get there in half a day, but there was a reason he chose to take a long walk on foot.

In front of him stretched a large grassy plain, and forests in the distance. He lowered his hood and let the wind carry a mixture bird song and whining grasshoppers to his ears. He looked up at the big blue sky and the fluffy white clouds overhead. He knew that such a bucolic scene like this could never have existed on the polluted earth. _Such a pretty sky_

Genjiro took in and savored the freshest breath of air he had taken in all his 31 years of life. He took his first step in this new world he found himself in and never looked back.

Name: Genjiro

Job: One of the 41 Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown, Chemist

Alignment: [Changes to match current possession], when in bodiless form, Extreme evil: -500

Total Levels: 100

Racial Level: Total: 30

Phantom: 15

Poltergeist: 10

Destageist: 5

Job Level: Total: 70

Skrimisher: 10

Thief: 5

Tracker: 10

Assassin: 15

Illusionist: 10

Escape Artist: 5

Immolationist: 15

Stats: Total: 680

HP: 60

MP: 70

PHY. ATK: 110

PHY. DEF: 65

AGILITY: 95

MAG. ATK: 10

MAG. DEF: 60

RESIST: 90

SPECIAL: 120


	2. Curious Metals

Genjiro walked along a beaten path under a canopy of verdant green, letting the sound of rustling leaves and bustling birds trap him in reverie.

 _Man, this past week has been amazing. There is so much life and color in this world!_

A squirrel darted across the path ahead of him and disappeared into the brush

 _Everytime I see the night sky I can't help but pity the sky on the sixth floor, awww Blue-Planet-san, what would you give to see the stars from this world._

His stomach rumbled and he licked his lips in anticipation. He'd been waiting for an excuse to have a meal

 _Never have I been so glad to play one of the only undead races in YGGDRASIL that gets benefits from filling a stomach. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have had a reason to be carrying Demeter's Cornucopia around, the food that comes out of it is some pretty top tier shit. Still_... _I don't know why or for how long I'll be in this world._

He looked up and saw freckles of sunlight trickling through the leaves above him and sighed internally in reverence. _Awww, so pretty~~ I know it probably won't be smart to get to attached to this world. Well, It's not like I have anyone waiting for me, not since, well, you know._

He looked back down at the path as to not needlessly kick a poor wayward stone

 _Still, anything to get away from from working at that chemical plant with all those yellow-helmeted idiots hounding me about what they should do about this-and-that not producing the right concentrations , or my boss telling me off about some nooby under me accidentally burning his hand off._

Genjiro once again looked at the trees around him. _For as much as I complain about all the pollution on earth, I've done more than my fair share of harm to the environment working at that plant. Should I ever find myself in the situation of a world wide industrial revolution, I should remember to preserve the beauty of this world at all costs._

There was a rickety looking wooden sign post up ahead of him and forced himself out of reverie for a moment so he could take out his glasses from his pocket dimension and read it.

"E-Rantel, huh, what's with this kingdoms obsession with needlessly hyphenated city names? Then again, I'm looking at the name translated through the glasses, for all I know their language lacks the concept of the hyphen. Oh well back to the sweet embrace of daydreaming ~." and with that, Genjiro dived back into reverie, this time reflecting on the events earlier that week.

 _I've learned a lot about this world so far, about adventurers, kingdoms, empires, races, magic, martial arts…. and man, I knew how powerful I was when I overhead the way those guys were talking about 3rd tier spells, but damn were those goblins weak, the moment they turned to flee they died from one tick of my passive_. _Nothing like a real battle back in YGGDRASIL._

The immolationist job class rewards a suicidal play style. It's abilities encourage gathering lots of enemies and making them focus you. As the name suggests, It is quite literally suicide to play as the class, being as its strongest abilities have the side effect of killing the user. It's a perfect class for destageists because they effectively have two health pools. The main advantage to the destageist race is the fact that they can change their racial abilities based on the race of the body they are being said, a level 5 destageist can have 5 different bodies they can choose from, offering a large variety of racial bonus. So why would Genjiro have a human body, which offers no racial bonuses, as one of his possessions? Well, a standard strategy Genjiro liked to employ was what the other members of Ainz Ooal Gown (AOG) called the "Damsel in Distress act".

After scouting out a party that they want to PK, Genjiro runs up to them on low health (courtesy of [False data: life]) and asks for assistance against the heteromorphs who are chasing him (AOG). While a little suspicious, most players are happy to overlook it for the sake of roleplay. Once AOG arrives he quickly uses most of his assassin class skills to burst down the highest DPS member of the party to get them into range for an insta-kill spell to be effective. A squishy human/geist assassin standing over the corpse of a dead party member is not long for the world, which is perfect for the immolationist class. Activating the skill [Divine Immolation] erupts the body into flames and starts a 5 second countdown until the user blows himself up dealing massive damage roughly equal to 2.5 [Fallen Down]s. The enemy has two options when confronted with this, group up and slay Genjiro before he goes nuclear, or run away. If they try to slay him, the friendly druid can usually keep Genjiro alive long enough to complete [Divine Immolation] and if they try to run away, the immolationist class has a skill that deals passive damage to enemies that have their back turned to them, the druid can also usually cast roots to keep them from running away to far. Needless to say, a successful casting of [Divine Immolation] is an almost guaranteed victory. After the human body is destroyed, Genjiro is left unhurt, floating in his ghostly looking destageist form (think of mistmen from skyrim), ready to highfive his team mates on a successful PK. Being in bodiless form drains a destageist's health and stamina until they rest at 20%, so usually AOG is nice enough to bring another one of Genjiro's bodies. If not, destageists can always hide in a teammate's shadow to stop the health drain. The cost of making a possessable human body is 50,000 gold, the usual yield from a high level total party PK is usually 10 times as much so it's a good trade off.

 _Aww~ Looking back on it now really reminds me how fun it was playing YGGDRASIL with Ainz Ooal Gown_

He saw a small clearing up ahead of him and patted his stomach _Guess it's time for lunch_

E-Rantel had a few small plots of land in its wealthier districts marked off as public parks. One of the parks was no bigger than a baseball diamond, but it still had the feeling of an oasis, a reprieve from the bustle of the city it was circumscribed in. The park had a few vagrant trees and a small fountain at its center where a pair of children no more than 5 years old splashed about. It lent a relaxed atmosphere and It also had small a grassy knoll, both of which were currently being exploited to their fullest by a middle-aged man with ashen-eyes and a grey cloak.

 _Rather than busy, I would say this city is lively._ The supine Genjiro closed his eyes and focused his tracker skills in an attempt to pick up useful bits of information from conversations around the city. _This city possesses such a neighborly air, something that has been long gone on earth_. _Oh whats this?_

He honed his senses on a group of adventurers and listened in "Yea, didn't you hear, he took down a basilisk in single combat!"

"What? No way, that's not something humans can do."

"It's true! He also took down that vampire with all that forest."

"He isn't lying, I saw the damage myself, Momon-sama and that beautiful princess with the raven hair, Nabe, they are the real deal."

 _Oh now that's an interesting name, Momon-sama~_ Thought Genjiro as he smiled to himself under his hood. _Who could "that beautiful princess with the raven hair, Nabe" be? The gamma maid maybe? I don't know, the maid I know the best of course is the zeta maid, Mrs. Entoma Vasilissa, but that goes without saying, I put a lot of work into her. Oh wait…_

A small epiphany crossed his mind, _If this Nabe really is the gamma maid, does that mean all the NPC's in Nazarick are alive?_

He shuddered as he contemplated the implications of that. _Well, sitting here isn't going to do anything. Wait for me just a little longer Momonga._

He ended his supine and started walking toward the adventurer's guild hall. _Awww~Such a pretty sky_

.

.

 _Copper, iron, silver, gold, and platinum were all metals that existed back on earth, 29, 26, 47, 79, and 78 on the periodic table respectively. So where does mythril, orichalcum, and adamantite fit in?_

Genjiro stood outside the guild hall watching the adventures leave and enter. Or more precisely, he was watching the little bits of metal dangling from their necks.

 _In YGGDRASIL, we had all those metals and more, but it was a game so I never really put thought into what they would be scientifically. Mythril resembles polished iridium, and orichalcum has a pinkish/purple tinge similar to bismuth. But a few days ago I saw a guy wearing a full suit of mythril, and if it really was iridium, it would be much too heavy for that. And as for orichalcum, bismuth is too soft to hold and edge. So I doubt it could really be those two._

 _But the real mystery is this adamantite. At first I thought it might be some kind of alloy of cobalt due to its blue tinge and its description: "harder that any metal, highly resistant to wear and weather". Looking good so far, that sounds like something someone might say about an alloy of cobalt, but the problem comes from its other descriptions: "Extremely rare, could be mined strait from the ground and used without processing, lighter than steel and can cut through diamond". Cobalt isn't particularly rare, and it is never in a useable form in nature. Also there is no way a simple alloy of cobalt could cut through diamond, especially not one that happened to be less dense than steel._

 _I guess magic really is just one of the accepted rules of this universe, these metals probably only exist due to the existence of magic. For all I know they might even exist outside the idea of a periodic table and chemistry._

 _Wait what am I doing just standing out here daydreaming, I came here to find Momonga._

He pushed through the doors and immediately noticed everyone looking at him out of the corner of their eyes. _I thought my appearance would seem pretty normal among these adventures, but it seems like they recognize a stranger immediately_. _Awww~ stop looking at me like that._

He made it to the receptionist "Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I would like to know where I can find the adventurer Momon-san?"

As he muttered the name, he felt the gazes of the adventures turn a bit more sinister, the receptionists demeanour shifted as well

"Momon- **sama** is a very important and busy man, I can't just send him every stray that comes walking through those doors."

"But it is very urgent I speak with him" Genjiro said trying not to let his uneasiness from all the gazes show in his voice.

"Uh huh, and what exactly is your relationship Momon-sama?"

 _Awww~ this lady is relentless_ "U-Uh w-well…."

Just then a middle-aged man with grey hair appeared behind the receptionist

"It's okay, I'll handle this. You said you were here to see Momon yes?"

 _I'm saved! Thankyou gramps!_ "Yes, I'm a close friend of his, I heard he was staying in E-Rantel, I assumed someone here might know where he is"

"A friend you say? Might I ask what your name is?"

Genjiro quickly recalled the alias he had been using for the last week, "It's Zen"

Ainzach looked into Genjiro's eyes for a few seconds, probably trying to determine the stranger's intentions when finally, "Alright, you seem innocent enough, he is staying at the Shining Gold Pavilion"

After receiving Ainzach's directions to the inn, Genjiro shook his hand, thanked him and quickly hurried out the door _Aww~ I'm not used to being the center of attention like that, I'm glad I ran into someone friendly._

The receptionist and Ainzach watched Genjiro's retreating back as he ran out the door

"I thought our policy was to not inconvenience Momon-sama in any way"

"This Zen guy may have seemed like a bit of a pushover, and maybe he is."

Ainzach leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice so that the adventures in the hall wouldn't hear him, "But I got the feeling from his eyes that he is incredibly strong, maybe even as strong as Momon, well I doubt that's possible. At the very least, I don't think he is someone who is unimportant."


	3. A Little Girl's Embrace

_Awww~ This place is fancy_

Genjiro stood in the open doorway of the Shining Gold Pavilion looking over the lobby

"Yes? Sir? Please, do come in."

Genjiro dragged himself out of his daze and walked up to the plain looking girl at the front desk who just called to him.

"Yes, hello, I'm looking for the adventurer Momon, is he in right now? I was just sent from the guild"

"From the guild? Oh you mean from Pluton Ainzach?"

"Yes" _So that old guy's name is Ainzach_

"Well in that case you're in luck, he just came in a minute ago, he's in room 302"

"Thankyou" After saying his thanks Genjiro headed for the staircase left of the main lobby

 _Top floor at this fancy-ass inn huh, Momonga must really be splurging. Actually, I don't even know of this guy is really Momonga. It would make sense if he is though, I can sense that my other possessions in Nazarick are nearby, and the names are incredibly similar. Alright, time to check out the scene_

As he climbed the stairs he cast [Blessing of Void][True Invisibility][Perfect Unknowable]. Now completely undetectable, he sat down cross legged and leaned against the wall outside the room marked 302. He then released his possession of his human body revealing his destageist form. Leaving his (now invisible) human body behind, he cast [Incorporeal], a spell that allowed the user to pass through physical objects and could only be used by certain ghost-type races. He stuck his head through the wall and into the room behind to see two people engaged in conversation.

One was a warrior clad scalp to sole in armor dark as night, he had two massive swords on his back and a flowing red cape. The other was what could only be described as a raven beauty, simply wearing a brown cloak and carrying a generic looking sword on her waist.

Then she spoke "I've finished casting the wards as you've asked"

 _I'm disappointed Momonga, you should know better than to neglect to cast a spectral ward for those who know [Incorporeal]_

"Thank you for your hard work, Narbreal"

"I am unworthy of your gratitude"

"Nonsense, haven't I told you before? your work to keep up our image is very important to the future of Nazarick" as Momon said this he took off his helmet revealing a fleshless skull.

 _Bingo, found you Momonga_

"We must also always be on alert for Genjiro-san, he is most likely in his human body and is looking for us as well"

 _Haha, no kidding_

"Understood, Ainz-sama"

 _Oh, Ainz-sama? Well, I guess it's time to make my grand entrance._

He slipped his head back out of the room and descended back into his human body and disabled [Blessing of Void], [True Invisibility], and [Perfect Unknowable]

 _Okay, deep breath, I've got to make this lighthearted and memorable_

"Naberal, I want you to stay here until-"

"BONE DADDY!" Genjiro flung the door wide open to see a stunned doppelgänger and

limp-jawed overlord.

Genjiro stood in the doorway with a big smile plastered on his face and waited for the two of them to recover from the initial shock.

"G-G-G-Gen-" excitement was raising in Ainz's voice as he realised what was happening and Narberal immediately genuflected before the supreme being.

"I was on the trail of some of my missing bodies when I caught wind of a couple of mighty adventurers, I thought I might be lucky enough to get an autograph" Genjiro had a huge cheesy grin on his face.

"Genjiro-san!" Ainz practically screamed as he ran for an embrace, his armor disappearing and being replaced by robes

Genjiro closed the door behind him, stepped forward and met his embrace "Haha, I take it you missed me?"

It was hard to discern emotion from a fleshless face, but Ainz's tone clearly conveyed that he was practically giddy. He let go of Genjiro and indicated to the couch in the room. "Please, sit down"

"Certainly", Genjiro sat down on the couch and Ainz sat down in a chair across from him and suddenly gestured to the still genuflecting maid

"Oh, this Narbreal, one of the Pleiades, you remember right?"

"Of course, the gamma maid correct?"

"I am honored you remember me Genjiro-sama"

 _Woah, chill it on the 'sama'_

Ainz contacted someone through [message] and a gate appeared behind Narbreal, "Narbreal, go inform the floor guardians to prepare for Genjiro's arrival.

"Understood", and with that, Narbreal left through the gate

Ainz turned to Genjiro and they started to discuss their experiences in the world so far.

.

.

 **9th floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick**

It had only been 20 minutes since Narbreal arrived and news of the appearance of a supreme being was already sweeping Nazarick by storm. Albedo was talking frantically over [Message] organizing the floor guardians, homunculus maids were running back and forth making sure to clean every speck of dust, and Narbreal was still running around informing various area guardians.

Yuri Alpha was sprinting down the hall of the 9th floor with an excited look on her face, she had just learned the identity of the supreme being that had appeared and wanted to be the first to tell Entoma.

She reached the Pleiades's quarters and flung the door wide open "ENTOMA!"

Every surface of the room was covered in a silky white web. Entoma was currently kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room with Solution hunched over her.

"She knows~" Lupusregina was leaning against the wall picking pieces of spider web off her uniform, "Sebas-sama came to inform us a couple minutes ago"

"I-I see" Said Yuri a little disappointed she didn't get to tell her first

"The moment she heard Genjiro-sama's name she got excited and ejected web all over the place~" Lupusregia made a face akin to ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), "She's been like this ever since"

Entoma was currently rolled up in Solution's embrace and making soft noises that sounded somewhere in between giggling and sobbing "Genjiro-sama~~~"

CZ stood in the corner covered in web "Ento-nee...lucky…CZ...jealous"

"CZ! We should be happy for her" but then Yuri thought, _Yea, I'm a little jealous as well, but right now I'm the big sister and we have a job to do_

"Okay, everyone clean yourselves up, we need to prepare for Genjiro-sama's reception"

"Hai~"

"Hai"

"...Hai…"

"Genjiro-sama~~~"

.

.

"Okay, so let me get this straight" Genjiro went through his mental checklist about the story Ainz just told him.

"You've changed your name to Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Yes"

"All of the NPC's of Nazarick are alive and have their own unique personalities based on their character descriptions."

"Yes"

"The whole 'supreme beings' roleplay thing is real now and the NPC's revier us as gods."

"Yes, it's important that we don't let them down. I've been doing the best I can to live up to their expectations but it's starting to get really stressful."

"Okay, Understood. Someone out there has a world item and brainwashed Shalltear"

"Yes"

"Albedo is full blown yandere for you"

"Y-Yeah, and so is Shalltear" _(duly noted Ainz-sama~_ ( ‾ʖ̫‾))

"You're currently looking into the matter of getting Lizardmen corpses to make an army of undead to strengthen Nazarick against this unknown enemy"

"Yes"

Genjiro leaned back into the cushions of the couch and sighed, "It seems we're really in deep here. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Um actually, there is" Genjiro thought it was strange how a level 100 undead magic caster could look sheepish as Ainz looked at the ground.

"I'm really glad you're in this world with me, Genjiro-san."

Genjiro felt a feeling inside his chest that he hadn't felt in a long time, _I forgot how nice it is to have friends_

"Yea, I'm happy that you're here too." Genjiro and Ainz sat there for a long time reminiscing on their times together in YGGDRASIL.

Some time had passed when, "I'm sorry I left, Ainz"

"No, after you told me why, I understand, no one should have to go through that."

"Yeah, but I still feel guilty about it. I imagine you must have been lonely."

"Well, you're right about that…" Ainz was looking up at the ceiling now "Well, now I have you and all the precious children my friends behind. I think you'll quickly find out that their character descriptions aren't the only thing that influence their personalities."

 _What's that supposed to mean?_

"Aw, Genjiro-san, It seems Nazarick is ready to receive you"

Just then a gate appeared in the room and they stood up "It seems the NPC's have gone all out on your reception"

"I can't wait"

As they walked through the gate, the lighting changed and the wooden walls that were just around them turned to marble.

As this was happening Ainz shot off a remark "Kukuku, I wouldn't be so sure about that. A large crowd of devout Nazarickian faces is the scariest thing this world has to offer"

"Huh?"

The gate closed behind him and he was met with a surreal image.

Standing before the throne were countless heteromorphic creatures of all shapes and sizes. Vampires, ghouls, demons, skeletons, death knights, insectoids, dragons and undead dragons, homunculi, doppelgangers and everything in between. The hall's floor was completely obscured under the sheer volume of bodies that had gathered there. The massive doors of the throne room were left open so they could fit as many people as possible, but even then the hallways outside were flooded with heteromorphs. It had seemed that the entirety of Nazarack had shown up to welcome the supreme being.

"It's Genjiro-sama!"

"A supreme being has returned!"

"All hail the supreme ones"

"GENJIRO-SAMA!"

"Stop shoving I can't see!"

"Truly this is a great day for Nazarick!"

Genjiro stood dumbstruck as his ears were flooded with a cacophony of cheers and applause. He saw a succubus with alabaster skin and ebony wings step forward.

"And now, the ritual of fidelity." Albedo kneeled down before him "We bow before the supreme one"

Everyone fell deathly silent. There was a single, powerful, sound of thousands of beings kneeling to the floor in perfect unison

" **We bow before the supreme one** "

The sight was unlike Genjiro had ever experienced, _Ahhhhh~ What to I do!? I know Ainz said it would be like this, but this is just crazy! Ahhh! Genjiro snap out of it, remember, you have to act like a proper supreme being._

"Ahem-" Genjiro cleared his throat and frantically thought of something to say "Wonderful! I couldn't be more pleased by your loyalty!"

There was an audible sigh of relief from the crowd and he could see smiles forming on every face.

"I expect great things from all of you!" he did a flamboyant 180 to hide his surely stupid facial expression

 _Yes! They bought it!_

"Kukuku" Ainz saw his face and chuckled softly "You're a natural at this Genjiro-san"

 _Screw you and your sarcasm Ainz!_

All was quiet and Albedo started to speak again "That concludes our ritual. We have heard your glorious words and will endeavour to-"

"Genjiro-sama!" A single feminine voice pierced through the silence, followed by the sound of hard-soled shoes running across the hard marble floor

As he turned around he felt a body make contact with his. He looked down to see a beautiful little girl embracing him. She was wearing something which looked to be the perfect mix of a maid uniform and a kimono.

"G-Genjiro-sama. I knew you would come back" She spoke softly and Genjiro felt his chest growing wet.

"Yeah" He put one hand behind her head and another around her back and pulled her in closer. "I'm home, Entoma"

"WOOOOOOOOOOO!" "YEAH BOIIIIII!" "AWWW, SHE'S SO LUCKY!" "ALL HAIL THE SUPREME ONES!" Massive applause rang out amongst the crowds.

Albedo stood up, possibly to tell off the interloper who ruined her carefully planned ceremony. But when she saw Entoma embracing the supreme being so lovingly she could help but smile and started to file people out of the room.

Entoma didn't seem to have any intention of letting go so they stood there like that for a long time until It was only them and Ainz left in the room.

They slowly released their embrace and Genjiro was able to get a good look at her.

Even though her face was actually a special mask, it was still capable of expressing emotion. It didn't have tear ducts, so tears were dripping off her chin from underneath. Her antenna were subdued and arced peacefully around her head. Genjiro marveled at how every detail he placed into her had come to life, but his mind kept returning to one thing, _She is beautiful_

Ainz was watching this and seemed very pleased, "Entoma, why don't you go and get some rest, I'm sure your sisters are dying to talk to you"

"Entoma dear, I promise I'll talk to you soon. I have a feeling we'll be spending lots of time together very soon."

"Hai!" She lifted her mask up a little and wiped the tears from her eyes underneath. She bounded to the doors of the throne room and stopped. She turned and bowed to the supreme beings before leaving to find her sisters.

Once Genjiro heard the sound of Entoma's foot steps disappear, he collapsed to the ground like a puppets whose strings had been cut and gave an exaggerated sigh

"Wahhh~, that was mortifying! I've never seen so many endearing faces!"

Ainz chuckled lightly "Kukuku, tell me about"

"And I didn't expect Entoma to run up to me like that."

"You seemed to be enjoying it"

"Yea, I'm not going to lie, I was a little moved."

He laid supine on the marble floor and looked at the ceiling high above him "She is exactly how I imagined she would be and more"

"Haha, when I saw Pandora's actor for the first time, all I could do was be embarrassed at how lame he was"

"What!?" Genjiro sat up "That doppleganger straight out of the third reich is cool as hell! You've got excellent taste, Ainz."

Ainz chuckled and looked away sheepishly, "Hehe, well, if you say so."

Genjiro stood up "Hey"

"Hm?"

"I want to try out a different body, come with me"

.

.

Genjiro had always been the type to favour function over form, so naturally his room on the 9th floor reflected that sentiment. It had plain white walls devoid of decoration and a simple carpeted floor. The right side of the room had a single plain looking bed, a nightstand, a lone bookshelf, and a simple couch and coffee table complex. The left side of the room was devoid of furniture and instead had five pedestals.

Genjiro the level 5 destageist was able to possess 5 different bodies, one of which he was already in, and 4 of which were currently standing as erect upon the pedestals.

The first slot held an Ancient Dragonoid. It was a simple looking reptilian race with green scales and short stunted wings. It had excellent racial bonus for defense and healing. Genjiro would use this body for raids which required a lot of sustain and agro control, but those kinds of raids were very niche, so he rarely found himself using it.

The second slot held a Fallen Seraph. It would have appeared human if you could've ignored the large black wings that sprouted from its back. Fallen Seraph's got bonuses toward casting debuffs and illusions while still favouring melee combat. Genjiro used this body for most raids, when he knew his normal Stygian Mantis assassin build would be dead weight in a horde-type raid fight.

The third held a Stygian Mantis. It was a race that consisted of human-sized umber praying mantises covered in all manner of spikes and barbs. They got huge bonuses for stealth and assassination and Genjiro found himself using this body the most out of all of them since it complimented his job classes niceley,.

The fourth slot was currently empty as that was the designated slot for his human body.

And finally, the fifth slot held an Elder Pink Ooze. It was the same amorphous pink race as Bukubukuchagama The Unsinkable. This was generally the extra body his teammates would bring along when attempting the "damsel in distress act". It had unmatched defensive capabilities and made a good body to retreat too after casting [Divine Immolation].

After entering the room, Genjiro started walking toward the empty pedestal

"I'm going to try possessing the mantis. I have no Idea what's going to happen since I've only ever been in a human body"

Ainz was following close behind him "I acclimated to this body and its uh, _foibles_ , right away. So I think you should be fine."

Genjiro stood on the pedestal and ejected himself from his body. The destageist floated over to the Stygian Mantis. "Okay, what was it again? 'Do not go gentle into that good night'?"

He chuckled and descended into the mantis. All five of his sense were assaulted immediately. Genjiro started flying about the room. His antenna darted about, his mandibles gnashed, and all of his new limbs thrashed about.

"Genjiro-san! Calm down! Ainz cast [Greater Pacify] and Genjiro settled down.

Genjiro stopped and started looking around the room with his new eyes. _Holy shit that was intense._

"Whoa, thanks Ainz, that was a really trippy experience. It was like all the parts of my brain that were used to controlling my body parts suddenly disconnected and were rewired" His voice was cold and steely _Damn, my voice is awesome! I sound like a super villain!_

"Well, that literally is what just happened" Ainz still had his hand out casting [Greater Pacify]

"Ah, thanks for the pacify, I'm good now, I've acclimated"

Ainz put down his had

"This compound vision is really something though, it's not something I can explain easily with words but if I had too…" He stopped and brought his claw up and rested his jaw on it

"I would say it's like being able to focus on all the thousand things around me at once" Genjiro giggled in his new voice and it ended up sounding like a laugh any super villain would be proud of

"This totally beats binocular vision"

"I'm glad to see you like your new body" Ainz dropped his shoulders in a somewhat defeated and somewhat amused tone. He had just witnessed Genjiro's mood change from pleasant and humorous to epileptically insane to evil mastermind in the span of a few seconds

"I remember you saying earlier that you were cooking up some scheme regarding lizardmen?"

"Oh yes, that"

"I'll let you get to that then"

"Wha?" Ainz felt a little startled at how quickly he was being dismissed.

"I think I'm going to take a few days to re-familiarize myself with Nazarick and everyone's names. I should also acclimate myself to these other bodies of mine in the event that I need them. Also, this brain of mine has been cooking up some plans of its own." Genjiro's mandibles curled up happily as he said this.

"Oh, I see. Well then, see you later Genjiro-san" Ainz said as he was being ushered out the door

"Of course, see you later my friend."

Ainz stood in the hallway feeling a little betrayed and confused on how unceremonious their first parting was. And as he walked away from the door, he could've sworn he heard the maniacal laughter of a mad scientist.

 **Okay everybody, that's the end of most of the necessary expository stuff. The next chapter will start getting really into the nitty gritty chemistry stuff. Hope you all enjoyed!**


	4. A lesson in Chemistry

The deep storage unit was a useful item from YGGDRASIL that could store a near infinite amount of a single type of material. They were textureless metallic spheres that could be changed to any size for convenient storage and access.

Genjiro was currently walking down the hallways of the 9th floor of Nazarick in his human body, twirling two of these storage units in his hand like a pair of baoding balls.

 _It's strange to think that metric tons of urine and feces could fit into two tiny balls, and even stranger to think that they're light enough for me to carry in one hand._ He brought his other hand up and rested his jaw on in. _In order for this to not go against everything I know about the conservation of mass and energy, it must work in the same way our pocket dimensions do. The sphere itself must just be a gateway to its own pocket dimension where the urine and feces is stored in earnest, which is why we can freely alter its size and weight._

He looked at the sphere that was labeled "Urine", _Still, to produce so much urine in only three days… They must have been drinking tons of extra water to try to please me_. He chuckled a little underneath his hood, _I'm only interested in the urine for it's nitrates, you're all defeating the purpose of producing more urine if you're just going to end up diluting it._

He reached the Pleiades's quarters and was about to open the door but stopped when he heard voices from the other side. _Girl talk? Don't mind if I do._ He focused his tracker skills and put his ear to the door.

It was Lupusregina speaking, "En-chan, you're such a naughty little girl~ I still have three day old web in my hair, su~"

There was a cute and juvenile voice in response that must have been Entoma, "With all do respect nee-san, I know you liked it."

 _Ha! Way to go Entoma, that sounds like something I would say._ Genjiro scrunched his eyebrows a little, _Wait, that_ ** _is_** _the exact immature and condescending response I would say_

Genjiro shook his head and wrote it off as a coincidence, deciding it would be best to stop his eavesdropping.

He opened the door to see that it was just Lupusregina, Entoma, and CZ in the room. They were all in very relaxed positions, probably enjoying their free time, they saw him in the doorway and stood up and bowed.

"At ease, I need to borrow Entoma for a while."

"Hai!" Entoma bounded to the area near the door where she kept her shoes and socks, visibly happy to be of use to her creator.

Genjiro was watching her put her shoes and socks and started to say "Hehe, if you put them on like that, you're going to get scol-", then suddenly his eyes went wide. _D-Did she just…! No, there's no way! I'm literally the only person I know that does it like that!_

He had just witnessed Entoma put on her right sock then right shoe, tying her right shoe, then her left sock and shoe, then tying her left shoe. _I know for a fact that I didn't put such an oddly specific thing in her character description. Did she hear of me doing it like that and is mimicking me? No, no one should have seen me putting shoes on like that._

He recalled Ainz's words in his head, " _I think you'll quickly find out that their character descriptions aren't the only thing that influence their personalities."_

 _This isn't just a matter of personalities Ainz! This is just too precise! Exactly how much do the NPC's take after their creators!?_

Entoma saw that Genjiro was shaking and making a scary facial expression "Genjiro-sama? Is something wrong?"

He did all he could to suppress the shakiness in his voice, "N-No. I'm fine, please follow me"

He turned and walked out the door with Entoma close behind him. _That's right, there was that comment she made earlier as well. This needs to be investigated further._

Genjiro calmed himself down and focused on his walking. _I'll do everything I can to figure out what's going on later, we have a job to do right now._

.

.

Genjiro and Entoma had just arrived by gate and were walking through the Great Forest of Tob. It was a beautifully sunny morning and light was filtering through the leaves above.

"Might I ask where we're heading Genjiro-sama?"

"We're going to the safehouse that Aura has been constructing, I've been having her and Mare prepare something for me on the side."

He arched his neck as if he was trying to see down the path ahead of them a little clearer. "What we're doing needs to be kept secret from the humans of this world, so normally we would just do it on the 6th floor of Nazarick. However, what we're doing is also quite a smelly process and I don't want to stink up Mare and Aura's home too much."

Entoma's voice came from next to him "Does it have to do with the waste you've been collecting?"

He smiled and patted her head, "You're correct. Look, we're here."

Ahead of them was a large complex of battlements and wooden stockades. Goblins and other monsters of the forest were totaling logs around and countless other errands. They seemed to building some grand wooden statue of a certain undead magic caster.

Aura spied the pair from atop the battlement and jumped down, making a 'V for victory" as she landed. She ran giddily towards them

"Welcome to my fortress Genjiro-sama!"

"Thank You for having us, where's your brother?"

"Mare! You're being rude to lord Genjiro! Hurry up and get down here!"

There was a sheepish reply from up behind the battlements "I-I can't, onee-chan..."

"Mare!"

"O-Okay.." A gender confused dark elf child dropped down from the battlements and ran toward them

"Hurry up!"

"H-hai!"

He arrived before them and curtsied "I-I am sorry for making you wait, lord Genjiro"

"Don't worry about it, did you complete that project I had you do?"

"Y-Yes, please follow me."

Mare led them to a clearing behind the fortress. As they walked they drew gazes from the various goblins and forest monsters that were working, but they saw the two impossibly powerful elves and decided it would be best to stay out of their way.

In the middle of the clearing was a ditch roughly the size of a football field and two meters deep. Standing next to it was a massive pile of dried cut straw.

Mare spoke up as they were arriving "I made the ditch just like you asked, I covered the walls and floor with clay like you said as well.

Getting closer, Genjiro could see that the ditch was lined with a thin layer of brownish tan clay.

"Oh! And I also collected all the straw into that pile" He indicated the pile of straw next to the ditch.

"Good work Mare, this will work perfectly to keep the nitrates from leaching out into the soil"

"Genjiro-sama!" They turned around to see Aura leading a caravan of various heteromorphs

"Here's the 2 elder liches, 2 basic fire elemental, and 24 skeletal workers you asked Ainz-sama to send here!" (Note: I was really unsure what I wanted to make the basic fire elementals to look like, so for now, just think of the primal fire elemental from the anime but much smaller)

Everyone lined up and bowed before Genjiro "Excellent, I need one of you Elder Liches to step forward"

One of the Elder LIches stepped out of the crowd

Genjiro nodded, "Your name is now Peter, glad to have you on the job site"

Peter talked in hollow voice and bowed "I bow before the supreme one"

Genjiro nodded again, "Okay, Aura, take the other Elder lich, one of the fire elementals, and 6 of the skeletal workers to the other job site I told you to make earlier."

Aura bowed and left with the heteromorphs, leaving behind 18 skeletal workers and a basic fire elemental

"Okay, Entoma, Peter, Mare, gather around" Genjiro gestured for everyone to huddle around him

"I'd be more than happy to explain all the chemical processes that you're about to undertake, but It is quite complex and I don't want to be here all day, so I'm just going to give you the rundown on what you need to do."

He looked at their faces and saw that there were no objections.

"The ultimate goal of this exercise is to get a small white crystal called Potassium Nitrate, or if you want to use its archaic name, Saltpeter"

He opened his pocket dimension and pulled out a small metallic sphere labeled "Feces" and handed it to Peter. "I want you to fill the ditch full of straw and feces, and once you're done.." He pulled a second sphere labeled "Urine" and handed it to peter "I want you to moisten it until it is completely saturated with urine"

"After a while it's going to evaporate so keep spraying it with urine to keep it moist, have your skeletal workers continually turn the pile to keep everything mixing well."

"Mare, whenever you have time, come down here and cast a few growth spells, It may speed up decomposition. Peter have your fire elemental constantly keeping the temperature warm, this will quicken evaporation and decomposition"

"This is a process that would normally take around seven months in this kind of climate, but with Mares magic and the fire elemental, I think we can achieve complete saturation in seven days"

"Once seven days have past, or until you notice that decomposition isn't taking place anymore, switch from moistening it with urine, to moistening it with water. This will allow the salts to rise to the top of the bed as the water evaporates"

"After a while you should see a whitish crust appear on the surface. Contact me when this happens"

Genjiro looked around at everyone's faces, they seemed to be focused and deep in thought "Trust me on this, It'll work"

Mare looked up and smiled "Of course! This is coming straight from a supreme being after all!"

Genjiro smiled and nodded, "That's the spirit. Alright get to work you two."

Both of them bowed and went to their separate duties

Mare walked off and started to prepare for a growth spell.

Peter jogged over to where the fire elemental and skeletal workers were and began giving the orders. He put the two spheres he had just been given on the ground and stepped back, suddenly they grew to the size of dump trucks.

Genjiro stood off to the side with Entoma watching this "Oh, you may need this" He reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out two simple looking silver amulets, "This amulet should protect you from the stench"

After putting one on himself, he made a fatherly motion of putting the second amulet around Entoma's neck

"T-Thank you, Genjiro-sama"

 _Is she blushing? I didn't realise the mask bug could do that. Actually, on second thought, does her arachnid biology even permit her to be disgusted by the smell of feces?_

Just then a torrent of chunky brown liquid spewed from a hole in one of the spheres into the ditch and skeletons began shoveling in straw after it. _All just more things to be investigated._

Watching the heteromorphs work, he nodded in satisfaction, "They seem to have everything under control here, let's go find Aura for the next stage of the plan"

.

They found Aura in another clearing not too far away from where the saltpeter bed was. She was sitting around a pile of wooden scraps along with the fire elemental, elder lich, and the remaining skeletal workers.

When they saw Genjiro and Entoma approaching they stood up and Genjiro gestured for Aura and the Elder Lich to approach them.

Genjiro looked at the Elder Lich, "Your name is now Charles, glad to have you on the job site"

Charles talked in hollow voice identical to Peter's and bowed "I bow before the supreme one"

Genjiro nodded and began just like how he had done earlier with Peter "Our goal here is simply to make charcoal. But we're going to be making it the right way. This is much simpler than what Peter and the others are doing so I'll give you a quick chemistry lesson"

Genjiro stuck out his hand and extended his finger like a professor giving a lecture "You see, when we burn wood, we're not actually burning the wood itself, but gases given off by the wood when it's subjected to heat. Those gases immediately react with the oxygen in the surrounding air and the result is a flame. What's left behind after that is a useless piece of ashen char"

"So the idea behind charcoal making is not to burn the wood, but to heat enough so that it undergoes pyrolysis. Basically, we're using heat to break certain chemical bonds in the wood so that turns into a much more combustible and useable form."

"However, the temperature required for pyrolysis to take place is very high, and any piece of wood would have long since combusted by then. So then how could we get the wood hot enough without burning it?"

Genjiro looked at the three of them. He couldn't read Charles's face for obvious reasons but Aura and Entoma seemed completely lost by all the words they had never heard before. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

He decided to just get to the point "The answer is to remove all the oxygen. All you have to do is cover up all your wood scraps in a mound of dirt and use the fire elemental to heat it. After you've done this for a while you can remove the dirt and you should see that the wood has turned black and very weak"

"Thats charcoal, that's all we're after. It's okay if a little air gets in, it'll just create a little ash, It's no big deal, we'll have use for those ashes later. Okay, you guys think you can handle it?"

Aura and Charles bowed deeply, "Of course."

Genjiro nodded, "Good, then get to it"

Aura and Charles turned and jogged to their respective duties, Charles to organize the skeletons and fire elemental, and Aura to get the wood from the fortress.

He called out as Aura jogged away "We don't need too much charcoal, any leftover wood scraps from making that huge fortress of yours should be more than enough. Once you're done you can return to your normal duties."

Aura turned and bowed once more "Understood."

Genjiro stood with Entoma and watched Aura's back retreat into the fortress. He then put his hand on Entoma's head.

"Alright, time for stage three of the plan, and the reason why I'm currently in this body."

.

.

It was just past noon and Genjiro and Entoma were nearing Carne Village

Genjiro put his hand on his chest, "Now remember, I'm the traveling scientist and brother of Momon, Zen"

He then moved his hand to on top of Entoma's head "And you are?"

Entoma trotted alongside her creator, happy to be his hand rest "I'm your assistant, Ellie"

"Correct, Ellie dear. Oh, that reminds me, stop here for a second" They stopped on the path and Genjiro took off his grey cloak, revealing the black leather armor he wore underneath.

"Here, take this, It would be bad if too many people saw your face" He extended the cloak towards Entoma

Entoma put her hands up in panic "Wha!? I couldn't possibly do something like wear your cloak!"

 _The hell girl? It's just a cloak_

"Look, it's fine, here" Genjiro took a step toward Entoma and flung the Cloak around her, catching the other side after it wrapped around her. As this was happening, its size changed to match Entoma's height.

"See, It's not going to kill you" He finished tying the front of it together. "I'd say it even looks quite good on you."

"It's true that The Mantle of The Silent Pigeon is one of the better cloak items in YGGDRASIL, but it isn't exactly hard to come by" He pulled an identical looking gray cloak from his pocket dimension and put it on.

"Alright then, let's get a move on, Ellie dear"

"Understood, Zen-sama", Unbeknownst to Genjiro, Entoma was smiling like a school girl underneath her new cloak _Aww~ It smells just like Genjiro-sama_

After walking up the path a little further, they reached the wooden gates of Carne Village.

A troop of goblins sprang from the brush around them with weapons drawn, "Halt! No one gets into this village without the boss's approval!"

"Do not worry, we mean no harm. I'm Zen, the humble traveling scientist, and this is my assistant, Ellie" Zen put his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"Yea! Well why don't you just wait right there until boss gets her, Mr. Scientist, whatever that is." The goblin made a point of mockingly emphasising the word "scientist".

A female voice came from behind the goblin that was just speaking "You're always so serious and busy-wisy Jugmen-chan ~"

A brown-skinned maid with two long braids of red hair stepped out in front of Jugmen, "I know them. You'd be dead by now if they wanted to hurt you~"

"Good afternoon Lupusregina-san, we're looking for the residence of a Mr. Nfirea Bareare, could you show us the way?" Zen made sure the goblins saw his pleasant smile.

"Of course, right this way, Gen-... Zen-san"

Lupusregina led them into the village much to the chagrin of the goblins, but they knew better than to mess with that sadistic servant of Ainz Ooal Gown.

She led them to a small wooden house with a thatched roof "You'll find Nfi-chan inside~"

"Thank you Lupusergia-san, we'll take it from here"

Lupusregina did a bow out of habit and left them to return to her normal duties.

Zen walked up to the door and was confronted with a very strong scent of medical herbs. _If I didn't know any better I'd say we have a pot head on our hands._

He knocked on the door after chuckling silently to himself. There was a sound of locks being undone and the door opened to reveal a young man with light brown bangs long enough to cover his eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Nfirea Bareare I reckon?"

Nfirea talked in a soft voice "Yes"

"Excellent, my name is Zen and this is Ellie, might we have a moment of your time?"

He stood aside and gestured to come in "Yes, please come in and sit anywhere you like."

"Thankyou, this won't take anytime at all." Zen and Ellie sat down on the only couch in the room. After closing the door, Nfirea grabbed a chair out of a storage closet and sat across from them.

"I am what is known as a scientist, you can think of me a a scholar of sorts. I was searching for a talented young alchemist and so my brother Momon sent me here. I'm just here to ask you a few simple questions."

Nfirea nodded trying to internalize everything he just heard, especially now that he knew the person before him was the brother of the great Momon. "Ah! I see your resemblance to Momon, you both have the same foreign looking face."

Seeing this nodded and Zen continued, "Yes, we both come from the same country. First and foremost, have you heard of the word 'Chemistry' before?"

Nfirea racked his brain but couldn't recall any time he had heard the word before, "No, I'm sorry Mr. Zen, it sounds a little bit like 'Alchemy', but I don't remember hearing anyone say it like that."

"Hmm, I see." Zen brought his hand up and rested his jaw on it, "In that case, I'm going to name a series of words. Stop me if you recognize one."

Zen cleared his throat, "Okay then, here I go. Hydrogen, periodic table, atom, gravity, electron, potassium, uranium, quantum physics, nuclear fission, ion exchange, hydrolysis, electricity, triglyceride, cation, anion, gunpowder, dynamite, sulfur..."

Zen stopped when he saw that Nfirea was completely clueless about everything he had just said. Nfirea realized Zen had stopped and put his hands up in apology "U-Um I'm sorry Mr. Zen but I haven't heard of any of those. Maybe a couple of them sound like some spells I've heard mages use before, like "electricity", but I really have no idea about the rest of those."

He bowed in his chair, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more use to you Mr. Zen"

"No, that's quite alright, I wouldn't have expected you to know much if any of those." _Hmmm, so it seems this world really does have no inkling of science_

"Alright then, on to another matter."

Zen leaned in a little closer and recalled what he had heard the first day he arrived in the new world, "Do you have anything here that resembles 'stinky yellow brimstone'?"

Nfirea's eyes lit up a little, "H-Hai! Please wait here for a second"

Nfirea disappeared into a back room and re-emerged holding a chalky yellow rock, "You must be talking about Jaunded Brimstone. It isn't very useful for alchemy or really anything for that matter. I like its color though and people like to keep them around as knick knacks." as he was saying this he handed the stone to Zen.

 _Perfect, this is definitely sulfur, let's hope he knows where to find more of it_. "Do you know where I could find more of this 'Jaunded Brimstone'?"

Nfirea looked up like he was trying to remember something "I think it comes from this place right outside of Moot village called the Devil's Maw, I can give you directions if you want."

 _Jackpot! It seems like I won't have to get sulfur the hard way after all._ "Thankyou Nfirea-san, that would be wonderful".

After receiving the directions Zen and Ellie stood up "Oh, one more thing. Do you have any books on alchemy that I can borrow?"

"Of course! Anything for Momon's (and Ainz Ooal Gown's) brother" He disappeared into the back room again and returned holding two worn looking books.

"They're a little worn, but they're good books, I've already memorized all the words on every page" He handed the books to Zen.

"Please have a safe journey you two." Nfirea bowed as Zen and Ellie were leaving through the doorway.

"And you have a good day as well Nfirea-san" Zen said before closing door.

He stood outside with Ellie next to him and then put his hand on her head, "Alright then, next stop, the Devil's Maw"


	5. A Fatal Mistake

_I hated going to that ranch in the summer back when I was a teenager, but it seems to have payed off, It would have been embarrassing if I couldn't ride a horse in front of Entoma._

The commute from Carne Village to Moot Village would've taken 10 days on foot, so after leaving Carne, Genjiro and Entoma had taken a gate to Sebas's location in the capital. After that they bought a horse with the money that Ainz gave them and made their way to Moot.

It had only been a couple hours since they had left Carne and the sun was just starting to get near enough to the horizon for the first shades of orange to appear in the sky. They were surrounded in a sea of grassy hills, stained yellow from sinking sun, and rolling in the cool summer winds. The bird song had long since stopped and crickets had started to chirp in anticipation for the coming night.

Genjiro was sitting atop a horse with his hood down, taking in the sights and sounds. In his lap in front of him sat Entoma, she also had her matching grey hood down and her antenna were arced peacefully over her head, bobbing lightly with the horse's movements. Genjiro had noticed that she had been periodically looking over her shoulder and back at him. _I wonder why she keeps looking back at me._ Genjiro recalled the character description he had given her.

 _Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, the insect loving maid: While she may appear to act juvenile and callus at times, she possess a deep maturity and love for her sisters and the Supreme Beings of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. She is quiet and polite around her superiors, only opening up and freely conversing with those she really trusts. She is curious and picks things up quickly. She is called the insect loving maid not because she loves insects, but because she loves to eat insects. But more than that, she loves to eat the muscular arms of grown men. She is slow to anger, but will not show mercy or back down when her friends and family are hurt or insulted._

Genjiro milled his thoughts over in his head, _Hehe, I figured out that spiders weren't technically_

 _considered insects until after I had already named her Entoma Vasilissa (Insect Queen)._

Genjiro looked down at the back of her head. _She really does seem just like a normal little girl though. Alright, I guess this is as good as time as any to do a little investigating._

"Say, Entoma dear, is this your first time outside of Nazarick?"

Entoma jumped a little because they had been riding in silence for over an hour by then and she didn't expect to be addressed so suddenly. "No, I was working as Ainz-samas messenger for Cocytus-sama before you got me"

Genjiro brought his hand up and rested his jaw on it, _Oh that's right, Ainz said he was doing some experiment with Cocytus and the Lizardmen, seeing if the NPC's can grow or something like that, I should definately check in with him on that. I was still cooped up like a mad scientist drafting all my plans up so I didn't pay too close attention_

Genjiro's thoughts were interrupted,

"There was also one time very long ago when you snuck me out of Nazarick" Her mask bug turned red as she said this

 _OH! Thats right! I had taken her to Asgard because I was lazy and wanted to use her passives to help me farm Sacred Scarabs. We still had that policy of not moving the NPC's outside of Nazarick without the guilds permission so I had to sneak her out from under everyone's nose._

 _Wait a minute, that was back in YGGDRASIL before the switch, so does that mean she has continuity from back when she was still just a simple NPC?_

"Tell me Entoma dear, do you know how old you are?"

Entoma brought her hand up and rested her jaw on it

 _Hey! I know that gesture!_

"I think I'm 51 years old"

 _Gah! That makes her older than me. But that makes sense though, every 4 minutes on earth was an hour in YGGDRASIL, meaning its clock ran 15 times faster. I created her a little less than 3 and half years ago so that math checks out._

He looked up at the sky and watched it slowly turning orange _I wonder if this would be a good time to ask when she picked up her habit of putting her shoes on like that._

His thoughts were interrupted again. "Genjiro-sama, why do you always look at the sky?"

"Huh?" He was a little surprised since this was the first time anyone from Nazarick had ever asked him a personal question since moving to the new world.

"You are always looking at the sky, I was wondering if you were looking for something."

He recalled her character description: _only opening up and freely conversing with those she really trusts. Does this mean she really trusts me?_

"I look at the sky all the time because I think it's pretty"

Entoma looked up at the sky after he said this "It looks like a normal sky to me"

"Well you see, In the world of the supreme beings, where Ainz and I come from, the sky is always clouded with smog and pollution. So in this world, it is very refreshing to see a big clean sky. The same thing applies to the stars at night as well."

Entoma fell into deep thought for a while before speaking up again. "What is the world of the supreme beings like?"

"Oh, now there's a difficult question to answer."

He tugged on the horse's reins a little because it was starting to veer off course. He looked back up at the sky.

"Well, the world of supreme beings isn't this fantastical place like you're probably imaging. It's actually a very normal world with wars and countries and politics and economics. We've got plenty of people falling into to depravity and plenty of people falling in love all the time. We each have our own petty squabbles amongst each other and our daily quotas to meet. Struggle and love are present in any world inhabited by intelligent beings, perhaps they're the very essence of existence itself."

He looked down to see Entoma staring at him like she had just heard the words of god.

"W-well, that's how it is. We were also stupid and ended up destroying our home through our own avarice, which is why we no longer have blue skies."

They rode for a little while in silence, listening to the crickets and the cool breezes coming off the hills. Entoma hunkered in the cloak that her creator had given her earlier that day and asked the question she had been dying to ask.

"Is there anyone you like?"

"Gah!" Genjiro had jerked the reins and the horse neighed in discontent.

"Well, that's an even more difficult question to answer."

"It's okay if you don't want-"

"No. no. It's fine. Yes, lets see."

Genjiro looked up at the sky again, but this time it was like he was looking through to somewhere above it.

"She has beautiful chestnut brown hair and cute little pointed chin she likes to dig into my shoulder. When she cries, her eyes become the most beautiful pieces of polished amber you'll ever see, but I never tell her that of course. She doesn't like me playing with her hair so she always ties it up into twin chignons, kind of like yours. She's always sort of gloomy and rarely smiles. But when she does, she is the most beautiful person in the world, it's like a brilliant supernova going off and its gravity sucks the whole world in.

She has the purest light brown skin you'll ever see, there isn't a single blemish anywhere on her body. But since she's pouty all the time she's got lines forming around her mouth that make it looks like she's frowning even when she's not.

She always wears these stupid dangly earrings that I hate. I think they make her look stupid but she insists that they make her sexier. Anyway, babies and cats are always trying to play with them, and it always annoys her, which she takes out on me. But then I tell her I love her and that seems to appease her annoyance. And then of course she turns around and scolds me for putting my shoes on weirdly.

She's also annoyingly protective about her work. She never lets anyone see her paintings until they're done. But whenever she falls asleep at the isel, I have to carry her to bed and I get a sneak peek at her work. She's always painting things like trees and birds, and big blue skies and fluffy white clouds-"

"Genjiro-sama!"

"Wha?" Entoma's forceful voice put a stop to his reverie.

She spoke again in a softer voice, "Genjiro-sama, you're crying."

He brought his hand up to his face, and just like Entoma had said, he felt warm tears there. _Oh, look at that. I guess I am_

"Excuse me, I seemed to have gotten a little carried away."

He finished wiping his tears and took hold of the reins because the horse was beginning to veer off course again.

 _Would you look at that, my goal was for me to learn more about her, but it seems just the opposite has happened._

They rode together in silence until nightfall.

.

.

Moot Village was a quaint little hamlet situated on the banks of a lake that was engulfed by steeply sloping hills. It was smaller than Carne and only had a few dozen buildings and pens for animals. It also had a well at it's center where all of the village's water was drawn because the water in the lake was to acidic to drink.

The cause of this acidity was on the other side of the lake. The Devil's Maw was a desolate moonscape of yellow land that hugged the far end of the lake. It was as though a giant had come to piss in the lake and missed, his urine drying into a crusty yellow blight.

The sun was high in the sky and from their vantage point on top of a hill, Genjiro and Entoma had an excellent view of the entire landscape.

"Do you see that Entoma dear, that is the result of geothermal activity." Genjiro was pointing at the plumes of yellow smoke rising from the desolate moonscape.

Entoma's attitude had changed since the day before and had been asking all kinds of questions about science and chemistry since morning, and Genjiro had been doing his best to keep up.

"Geothermal activity? Like those volcanoes you mentioned?"

 _It seems the "Curious and picks things up quickly" part of her character description is in full force._

"Yes indeed, take a closer look at the hills surrounding lake, see how steeply sloped they are? Why do you think that is?"

Entoma brought her hand up and rested her jaw on it

Seeing her make this gesture, Genjiro couldn't help but feel some familiarity with her, "It's okay take your time."

Suddenly her antennae perked up and her eyes went alight. "It's because that lake is actually a partially filled caldera! (Note: A caldera is a type of depression formed by volcanic activity)"

"Correct! I'm impressed Entoma dear." He put his hand on her head and tousled her hair, he couldn't help but feel proud at how fast his new student was learning.

Entoma raised her head up a little as if to meet his hand halfway. Whatever her mask was displaying, she was smiling twice as ferociously underneath it.

"Alrighty then, hoods up Ellie dear, we're going to check out the scene"

"Hai!" They pulled their hoods up over their heads and walked over to the village.

 _We would've made better time if I hadn't let Entoma eat the horse this morning. But It couldn't be helped since she asked so politely._

Once inside the village, they didn't bother with any of the villagers and went straight to what looked to be the chief's house.

There was a scruffy old man sitting out on the deck chewing on a piece of whatever the new world's equivalent to tobacco was

"You must be the chief of this village. I'm Zen and this is Ellie, we're tourists and we were hoping we could gain some insight on the 'Devil's Maw'"

The old man didn't bother getting out of his seat and instead shouted out into the house behind him "NIVEN! GET OUT HERE!"

A young boy who appeared no more than 17 came out of the house. He had green eyes and messy black hair. His skin had been tanned to the point where one could tell he had been working the fields a long time. He was wearing a dirty bandana around his neck.

The village chief spoke in a voice that perfectly matched his scruffy appearance "Niven, these guys sayin' they tourists lookin' at that piss stain across the lake, go do your thing boy."

The boy named Niven stepped down from the deck and wiped his hands on his pants before going in to shake both of their hands. He spoke in a pleasant tone "Nice to meet you, I'm Niven. I'm that grumpy old man's grandson. You said you were here to see the Devil's Maw?"

"Yes, I'm Zen and this is Ellie, could you lead us there? I'd like to know everything you have to say about it."

Niven grinned like a child showing his favourite toy to a friend, "Of course, follow me!"

Niven led them out of the village and onto a trail that went around the lake. "You can forgive that old guy, he's actually really nice. He just doesn't like it whenever he's reminded that the only thing interesting about his village is the rock formation across the lake."

Genjiro and Entoma were trailing behind him and they were able to get a good look at his physique. _He's still young but his body is well formed and muscular. I know how hard it must be to get a decent meal out here, his family must care for him a lot_

"Don't let the name scare you."

"Hmm?" Genjiro was thinking and didn't hear Niven's statement

"Don't let the name scare you: 'Devil's Maw', there isn't actually any devils or anything like that. The villagers treat it like some sacred place where evil spirits gather, they say it was created by some archfiend a thousand years ago. No one comes up here except for me."

He indicated to the bandana around his neck, "The air gets more caustic the closer we get, so you're going to need protection."

"No need." Genjiro lifted the amulet he had on since the day before out from underneath his cloak. "This is a magic item that will protect us from the fumes."

He turned around and saw that Entoma was still wearing her's as well.

Niven smiled a little bigger "Wow, that magic stuff is really amazing. I've always been trying to figure out how it works."

 _You and me both buddy._

"But my family doesn't like it when I do that."

"Hmm?"

"My family is really nice, and they teach me lots of things. But I've always liked investigating the true causes of things, like why the lake water is too toxic to drink and what was it that really created the Devil's Maw. They say that kind of thinking will get me possessed by demons, but I can't help myself."

 _Oh? I'm starting to get the picture here. This kid is growing on me._

Genjiro decided to humor him, "So tell me, what do **_you_** think caused the creation of that rock formation?"

Niven smiled a huge grin, clearly happy that someone was finally willing to hear him out "I think it was caused by, get this-"

He paused a little for dramatic effect "Lava!"

"Lava?"

"Yes lava! What if there was a huge amount of lava underneath the lake a long time ago, and then it disappeared, making the ground sink in. That's why the hills around the village look like that!"

"Oh ho! Do go on."

Niven was smiling uncontrollably now, tempted on by Genjiro's prompt. "Yes! And what if some of that super hot lava still lingered around? That would totally explain those hot plumes of smoke coming out of the ground!"

 _You're not too far off from the truth kid, someone should teach him the word for magma._

Niven continued on for a long time in bated amusement about other things he had hypothesized. Most of his theories were completely wrong, but they all shined of an innocent and gifted curiosity. Genjiro followed along in silent praise.

 _Without proper schooling, he has already cultivated his own curiosity and scientific mind. This kid is a natural born scientist._

"Say kid." Genjiro interrupted his spiel.

"What is it Mr. Zen?"

"Have you ever thought about moving to a city and becoming a scholar? I'm sure there would be an army of professors who would line up to take you as their apprentice, I know I would."

"Yeah… I've thought about it, but my grandpa needs me here to work the fields. He has always been kind to me and I can't just leave him to pursue my own selfish desires."

 _Scientific and selfless? If this kid had been born back on my world, there's no doubt he would've gone far in life. I'm starting to think that maybe we should recruit him to Nazarick_.

He looked back at Entoma and saw her eyeing Niven's biceps, _On second thought, maybe not_

Niven spoke up again, pulling his bandana over his face "Anyway, we're here."

After passing over a small crest, they saw exactly what they had seen from atop the hill earlier. It was a desolate, acrid landscape riddled with caustic vents spilling yellow ash into the atmosphere.

"You're welcome to take a little bit of the brimstone, but don't take too much. The villagers think it will anger the demons."

He turned and started to leave, having done his job as a tour guide, "Anyways, just don't go planning some kind of large scale mining operation."

 _Speak of the devil, that's exactly what I'm planning._

Genjiro called out to him while he was leaving "Thank you for the marvelous conversation coming up here. Maintain that curiosity of yours!"

Niven waved and smiled as he headed back over the crest and down the trail they had just taken, leaving Genjiro and Entoma alone.

"Alrighty then, could you go ahead and set up camp Entoma dear? I'm going to contact Ainz and have him prepare the skeletal workers for when night comes."

"Hai"

.

Night had fallen and hundreds of skeletal workers wielding pick axes and shovels had arrived by gate.

"Try to get all the yellow bits!." Genjiro and Entoma stood off to the side directing the skeletons as they mined out the sulfur and deposited it in a giant metallic sphere.

 _I plan on making loads of sulfuric acid later down the line, so we need as much as we can get right now_. The undead's impact on the landscape was easily visible under the moonlight. _Undead workers are incredibly efficient, we might have just discovered a new and important resource unique to this magical world, Ainz._

As he watched the skeletons work, he noticed a faint orange light coming over the crest. _Shit! It's a guard! We're going to be discovered._

Genjiro had done the series of motions thousands of times in YGGDRASIL

He drew his dagger and immediately cast [Blink] to teleport over the crest to right behind the torch bearer. In one fluid motion he cut the torch bearers neck open and sheathed his dagger before the torch hit the ground. He did all of this without even thinking about it.

He had realised what he had just done and looked down at the corpse he just made.

 _What did- What did I just do!? I just killed a person without even thinking about it! This isn't a goblin, this is a human being! No, wait!_

He realized he was standing over the lifeless body of Niven, blood was still squirting from his neck and soaking into his bandana.

 _I just murdered a human being. And not just that, an innocent child. What was he doing here!?_

There was a letter sticking from out the top of his trousers. Genjiro quickly grabbed it and frantically started to read _...Wish you luck… make me proud in the city…I know this has always meant a lot to you... I know you'll be a great scholar…. Sincerely, Grandpa_

 _Oh god. He must have worked up the courage to leave his village behind to become a scholar. He must have thought I was a professor and had come to seek apprenticeship._

Genjiro looked at his hands and expected them to be shaking, and much to his horror, they were completely calm. _Just what is happening to me!?_

"Genjiro-sama?" There was an adorable little voice behind him.

"Can I eat him?" Entoma had her hands adorably cupped together.

"Of course Entoma dear, go ahead." _Wait! Why the hell did I just say that!?_

But it was too late, Entoma had already sprouted her extra limbs and was dismembering Niven's corpse.

She started by taking her mask off and biting his legs clean off. Then tearing his head off, working off of the cut Genjiro made in his neck earlier. She was making sure to save his nicely toned biceps for last.

She looked up at Genjiro in between bites, a little bit of Niven's messy black hair was dangling from her maw. She cocked her head, "Is something wrong Genjiro-sama?"

"Oh, no, nothing."

Genjiro walked away to direct the skeletons, trying to ignore the sound of ripping flesh and popping organs.

He hoped he could put this crazy day behind him. Not because of his crime, but because he thought Entoma looked really cute with that little bit hair sticking out of her mouth.


	6. No Turning Back

Now that he had more use for it, Genjiro's room on the 9th floor of Nazarick had finally gotten the attention it so sorely lacked. He had used 15,000 gold from Nazaricks treasury to expand his room so that it now consisted of two separate sections separated by a divider. One side held his normal boring grey bedroom and body storage, and the other had been converted into a study/lab area. The lab and study area had a long continuous table that clung to the walls all the way around the room. On the table were various subjects of study: YGGDRASIL Metals, Gold coins, human body parts, caged rodents, one of Shizu's hand guns, books from Nazarick's library, and a cornucopia of other items. Despite the sheer capacity of odd items, they were placed on the table and around the rest of the room in a purposeful manner, making the room seem neat and orderly.

Sitting on the table before the Stygian Mantis Genjiro, was a jury rigged series of glass lenses leading into and out of an ordinary looking pair of glasses. He was leafing through a book on alchemy that Nifera had given him a few days prior. He enjoyed reading in his mantis form because his compound eyes could process many lines of text at once and it drastically reduced the time he needed to spend on any one page.

Genjiro was deep in thought and not reading the book earnestly. _It's been four days since I killed that boy and mined out that sulfur deposit._ He stopped reading and looked up at the ceiling, he was disappointed when he saw grey instead blue, it reminded him of his smog covered home. _No matter how much I ruminate on the matter, I simply can't feel any kind of guttural empathy for the boy. I definitely regret killing him, he was innocent and had a promising future, and he even brought back memories of me in my teenage years, surely there were a million things I could've done other than ending his life on the spot._

 _But that's all I feel, just simple regret, the same feeling as if I had just pulled out of an investment right before its stocks increased in value. But I must have been visibly disturbed by what I had done, otherwise Entoma dear wouldn't have asked if I was okay after seeing my face. Ainz had said that he has been unable to have strong emotions since coming to this world, at first we thought that was because of the automatic status cleanse that undead races receive, but I'm beginning to think that isn't the only thing that's going on here._

 _It may work according to the James-Lange theory of emotion, where outside stimuli trigger physiological responses, and our brain does its best to interpret those responses and convert them into experienceable emotions. This would make sense because being in a human body would mean that I would still have those physiological responses such as blood pressure, facial expressions, and body temperature, and could thus experience the full plethora of human emotions. This would also mean that Ainz in his skeletal body wouldn't ever be able to experience an emotion to Its fullest in earnest._

 _This must be why at the time it happened, I was able to at least able feel disturbed at having just murdered an innocent child. But the problem still arises from looking back at it if after the fact. Why is it that I still can't experience a strong emotional empathy for the boy I had murdered? According to James-Lange theory, I had the body and means to experience that guttural empathy for a fellow member of my species._

He looked back down because he was getting tired of looking at the tasteless grey ceiling. _It must be due to the fact that true empathy is an experience that requires one to have an actualized sense of self, one must truly feel within themselves that they are human in order for empathy to elicit a powerful emotional response. Can I not feel empathy for humans because that even while possessing a human body and having the memories of being a human, I already subconsciously accept that I'm an undead destageist? Is it true? Have I really accepted that this is who I am now? An undead spirit who drifts around from body to body?_

Genjiro rested his triangular face flat on the surface of the table. _If that's the case, I really have no other choice than accept it. Even If I wanted to bring the boy back, the only thing left of him is a dried blotch of blood outside of Moot Village._

He sighed deeply. _I was naive to think that two strangers showing up in a village one day, and a sacred ground disappearing over night wouldn't cause any suspicion. They've definitely found the blood by now and are cursing Zen and Ellie's names by now. The only option now is to silence them and learn from this. I should tell Entoma dear to be tidier when she eats._

He shook his head and chuckled tiredly, _Heh, a normal person would've thought to discourage human eating altogether, rather than thinking "She should eat tidier". I guess I really am no longer human._

 _There's no turning back now. I wonder when Demiurge is going to get here._

There was a knock at the door. " _Speak of the devil and he shall appear"_

"The door is unlocked, come in." The voice of a Stygian mantis is cold and steely, but Genjiro's reeked of tiredness.

A well dressed archfiend took two steps into the room and bowed.

"I apologise for the wait lord Genjiro."

"It's okay Demiurge, I know you're busy with work from Ainz. I just need a small favor done."

Demiurge's silence prompted Genjiro to continue. "There is a small hamlet west of the Re-Estize capital called Moot Village. Entoma and I passed through there four days ago. I had made a small error and by now the villagers are likely cursing Zen and Ellie's names. This will be a problem down the line when people learn that Zen is Momon's brother."

He paused to make sure Demiurge was following. "Your task is simple, leave no one alive. I hear you're planning some kind of event in the capital later down the line so we can just blame the disappearance of Moot on that, hell, there's even a place next to it called the Devil's Maw, I doubt anyone would question the village being destroyed by demons."

"Understood."

"And one more thing. The village chief there is a scruffy old man, he's probably figured out by now that he will never see his grandson again and is in terrible distress. He hasn't done anything wrong so put him down quickly and without suffering. Any bodies you don't need for your experiments can be given to an elder lich named Peter at Aura's fortress in the Great Forest of Tob, he should be able to use them as a good seed for the next batch of saltpeter later. That is all."

"Understood Genjiro-sama, your wish is my command." Demiurge got up and turned to leave

"Oh, I almost forgot." Genjiro pulled out a small metallic sphere from his pocket dimension and tossed it to demiurge.

"If you come across any particularly well built men while you're in the village, go ahead and take their arms."

After nodding in comprehension, he bowed once more and left.

 _I'm hoping I'm making the right choice here, well, it's a moot point now. This is all for the good of Nazarick._

Genjiro's mandibles curled slightly upward _For the good of Nazarick, huh. I'm starting to sound like bone daddy._

Just then, he heard a voice in his head "Genjiro-san?" _Hehe, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear", the sequel._

He put his claw to were his ears would normally be out of habit. "What is it Ainz?"

"One of my summoned elder liches has been contacting me, he says his name is Peter and that he is requesting you."

Genjiro smiled because now he had an excuse to get away from the room's depressing atmosphere. "Ah, excellent, a day ahead of schedule too, Mare's growth magic really is something, to think it managed to speed up the nitrate saturation process this much."

"Huh?"

"Never mind me, I'm just thinking aloud. Tell him I'll be there soon."

"Okay."

"Thanks for the heads up, any news about that natural gas deposit I asked your eight edged assassins to find?"

"No, they are still looking for one."

"I see, thankyou, talk to you later-"

"Wait, before you go. We haven't talked in awhile. How are you feeling Genjiro-san?"

Genjiro paused and stared at his dark reflection in the pieces of glass in front of him. "Couldn't be better."

Genjiro stopped the message and went to go get Entoma.

.

.

"So how far have you gotten with Genjiro-sama, **_Entoma_** **_dear_** , su ~"

"Lupusregina, unlike you, Entoma-chan is a good and wholesome girl."

Yuri, Lupusregina, and Entoma were currently in the Pleiades quarters relaxing and enjoying their free time. Yuri and Lupusregina were at a small table drinking tea and Entoma was lying down on the couch reading a handwritten note book given to her by Genjiro.

There was a light and mirthful reply from the couch. "Well, I've already ridden his horse."

Both Yuri and Lupusregina spit their tea out in an impressive cloud of vapor.

"W-Wait, Entoma-chan, are you serious?"

Entoma smirked under her mask and continued in an innocent, child-like voice, "Mhm! He even let me eat it after I asked."

"HAHAHAHA!" Lupusregina was laughing hysterically in Yuri's face. "WHAT WAS IT YOU SAID EARLIER!? A GOOD AND WHOLESOME GIRL!? WAY TO GO EN-CHAN!"

Yuri was red and shakily trying to adjust her glasses, "E-Entoma-chan's relationship with G-Genjiro-sama is none of our business"

"Dawwww~ what's wrong Yuri-nee~? Can't handle the fact that your innocent little sister has already gotten more action than you ever will~?" Lupusregina was smiling evilly at her older sister.

Entoma's voice came from the couch to put the final nail in the coffin "It was really big and hairy too."

"HAHAHAHA!"

Yuri gave up and planted her face on the table, deciding to just change the subject as quickly as possible. "What's that book you're reading Entoma-chan?"

Entoma's antenna perked up as her inner disposition switched from a trolley inuendo-making litter sister, to a girl in love. "Genjiro-sama is super smart! He knows so many things about the world! He wrote this note book for me so I can learn something called 'chemistry'. He's really serious about it."

Yuri was a little interested and started to make her way to Entoma. "Do you mind if I take a look-"

There was a knock at the door followed by a cold and steely voice "I'm coming in."

The three girls recognized the voice and stood up and prepared to bow.

The door opened to reveal a human-sized, black praying mantis. "Ah excellent, you're here. Come Entoma dear, we have work to do. Hmmm?

Entoma was still standing and staring at Genjiro with wide eyes.

Genjiro was thinking to himself, _I guess that's right, I haven't really interacted with her that much in this body. Her instincts must be telling her to be afraid of me. The praying mantis is a natural predator of the spider after all._

Genjiro tried his best to talk in a light, pleasant tone. "Don't be afraid Entoma dear, come along."

He made a friendly gesture for her to join him at his side.

Unbeknownst to him, Entoma was entranced for a completely different reason. _Waaah~ Genjiro-sama is so handsome~!_

She realised she was staring and forced herself out of her day dream. "H-Hai!"

She bounded to the door and Genjiro watched her put on her shoes.

"Alrighty then, follow me, we're going to visit Aura's fortress."

Yuri and Lupusregina bowed as the two of them left. Once the door was closed, Lupusregina made an evil side glance at her sister. "Hehe~"

"Lupusregnia!"

.

.

It was the middle of day and the Great Forest of Tob was rife with birdsong. Genjiro and Entoma were walking under a canopy of leaves and discussing their plans

"Gunpowder? Like what Shizu-nee uses?"

"That's right, 75% potassium nitrate, 15% carbon, and 10% elemental sulfur."

"If we need gunpowder, why don't we ask Shizu-nee for some?" Entoma was used to asking the supreme being questions now, to the point where she was comfortable asking him whatever was on her mind.

"I'm glad you asked that, here's why." Genjiro pulled a silver revolver out of his pocket dimension.

"Is that one of Shizu-nee's guns?"

"Correct, but it doesn't behave quite like a normal gun from my world."

He opened the chamber and pulled out one of the six copper colored bullets and showed it to Entoma.

"Seems like a normal cartridge so far, but watch what happens when I try to open it" He quickly swiped his claw through the cartridge, cutting it in half. The halves fell apart from each other and quickly disintegrated into a faint blue smoke before disappearing.

"The bullets are completely made from mana, and thus, not mass producible or salvageable. This also means that there's a limit to the variety of projectiles that Shizu can fire, since they're technically summons from YGGDRASIL."

He clicked the chamber back into place and fired at a tree a few times. The bullets made yellow streaks through the air and left decent sized craters in the innocent tree that had done nothing to deserve Genjiro's wrath.

"As you can see, all the bullets are tracers as well. The shitty devs thought it would make it look cooler, but I imagine that that might be an inconvenience in this world."

He put the gun back in his pocket dimension. "By manufacturing our own guns and gunpowder from scratch, we have the freedom to fire any kinds of projectiles we want. That means we can make the bullets from any metal we choose, and enhance them with any enchantment we want. An ichorium bullet enchanted with a 9th tier holy spell traveling at 300 meters a second straight into one's face sounds like it could do some real damage."

Genjiro chuckled lightly. "Hehe, but those kinds of bullets will be for our use only. When we release firearms into this world, they're going to be using mostly lead, adamantite at best."

Entoma was walking beside him looking down at the path and deep in thought, internalizing everything her creator just told her. She had her hand up and was resting her jaw on it. Genjiro looked down at her with fatherly eyes and smiled. He put his clawed limb lightly on her head. "Entoma dear, we're here."

Aura's fortress had expanded considerably in a short time and work had begun on a second statue that stood next to Ainz's. They were immediately confronted by a female dark elf.

Aura ran over to them. "Welcome Genjiro-sama! Peter was just asking for you."

"I know, we're going to see him right now."

"Of course! Right this way. Oh wait, I almost forgot."

She handed Genjiro a small metallic sphere labeled "ash".

"Give my thanks to Charles."

Aura nodded and then led them to the clearing with the saltpeter bed. It had changed quite a bit since they had last visited.

Off to the side of the pit were several large barrels and vats filled with water. With them were arrays of clay trays and simple cloth filters. In the middle of the pit was a pillar that stood out the grime with a walkway connecting to it, atop it sat the fire elemental evenly distributing heat around the entire bed. There was also an out house built nearby for what Genjiro assumed was for collecting feces and urine from the hundreds of goblin workers and beasts that Aura kept on site.

Genjiro nodded in praise because it seemed to him that the elder lich had quickly grasped the nature of his assignment and had taken steps to maximize production. He was so impressed that he thought that if he had seen something like this from a worker back on earth, he would've given him a raise on the spot.

When they got closer the stench hit them immediately. Genjiro took out his amulet and put it on, and then turned to Entoma to tell her to do the same.

"Ah, Entoma dear, go ahead and put-" Genjiro realised she was already wearing it. _Had she expected the stench before hand and preemptively put it on? Or had she actually been wearing it since I gave it to her? And now that I think about it, she's still wearing the cloak I gave her too, even though we're not masquerading as Zen and Ellie at the moment._

He shook his head realizing he had more important things to think about at the moment. "Ah, Aura, thank you for taking us here, you're dismissed." Aura bowed and left.

Peter saw them from where he was and jogged up to them. "Thank you for coming so quickly Genjiro-sama."

"I'm impressed Peter, It seems you've really streamlined the place, well done."

Peter talked in an eerie hollow voice, but he had somehow figured out how to make himself sound delighted. "I can't begin to express the happiness those words bring me."

"Nonsense, good work demands equally good praise. I see you've also already prepared those vats and barrels I asked for. So tell me, has the efflorescence appeared?"

Peter began leading them closer to the pit . "Yes. It is as your infinite knowledge predicted. I noticed the white crust forming this morning."

When they got to the edge, Genjiro looked down into the grime and noticed that there was indeed a whitish crust forming on its surface.

"Excellent, I'm going to show you what you needs to be done next, watch carefully because you'll be doing the same thing shortly."

Entoma and Peter were behind him and listening well. But Peter in particular honed in on those words with deadly focus.

Genjiro pulled out a bucket from his pocket dimension and scooped up some of the grime out of the pit. He then walked over to the vat full of water.

"Take the nitrified earth and add about ½ part water." He turned the tap of barrel and filled the rest of the bucket up with water and twirled it around, making a brownish liquid.

"Next, siphon off the newly made saltpeter ley." He grabbed another two buckets from thin air and poured off the brown liquid into one of them, throwing the leftover mush back into the pit. He then filled the remaining bucket with fresh water.

"Next thing we're going to do is make some some potash." He held a small metallic sphere labeled "Ash" over the bucket he had just filled. Ash began spilling into the bucket out of the sphere and mixing with water. He waited for the ashes to settle leaving behind a pale grey liquid He pulled yet another bucket from his pocket dimension and siphoned off the liquid he had just made.

"This should cause most of the unwanted salts to become insoluble" He poured the pale grey liquid into the bucket of brownish liquid, and the moment the two met, a whitish cloud formed in the bucket. He kept pouring until the cloud stopped forming.

"Next step is to filter and evaporate." He walked over to where the cloth filters and massive clay trays were. He put the cloth over the top of the bucket and spilled its contents onto the tray. He silently cast [Mark of the Immolationist: Level 0] and his clawed hand ignited into flames. He slowly past his hand over the liquid spilled out on the tray and it quickly began evaporating. Various types of white crystals began to form on the tray.

"These ones aren't the ones we're after." He took his other hand and scraped off the first set crystals into a sphere labeled "Miscellaneous salts and potash". After a little while longer, small spike-like crystals appeared on the tray.

"Bingo, we have saltpeter gentlemen." He scraped the crystals into a sphere labeled "Potassium Nitrate".

Genjiro stood up and held the sphere proudly, "Haha, that would've been embarrassing if that didn't work."

He turned around and gave it to Peter, who had been behind him watching the whole process. He also made sure to give him the spheres for ash and salts.

"Alright then Peter, you think you can do it? This time you'll be using these guys instead of those little buckets." Genjiro gestured to the massive vats behind him.

"Of course lord Genjiro."

"Alrighty then, good luck, I'm eager to watch you do it."

Genjiro led Entoma away to let Peter work. They watched him jog around and give orders to his skeletal workers. They began using their numbers to move huge quantities of grime from the pit into the various barrels and began to process them.

Genjiro and Entoma sat up on a small hill off to the side and watched for awhile. Genjiro was still a stygian mantis so he had his legs folded underneath him so his abdomen could rest on the ground. Entoma sat next to him, leaning against his thorax. The sun was warm and birds were singing softly.

They sat like that for a long time and Entoma pulled her grey hood over head and began to nod off.

Not too long after, a gate opened up near to where Peter was working, and a well dress demon walked out. _Oh wow, that was quick Demiurge._

Genjiro watched from a distance as Demiurge exchanged some words with Peter. After that, Peter pointed at the pit and a second gate appeared. Human bodies began to fall from the gate and into the grime, some of them were missing arms. He noticed a head fall out of the gate, and using his tracker skills, Genjiro was able to zoom in and confirm that it was Moot Village's chief. He had died with a calm, almost serene expression on his face.

Genjiro muttered to himself quietly. "It seems Demiurge chose to painlessly decapitate him."

Entoma heard this and stirred. "*yawn* Did you say something Genjiro-sama?"

"Hmm? Oh yes. I was just thinking that Demiurge did a good job in regards to that village's chief."

Entoma yawned and stretched her arms sleepily around Genjiro's thorax, snuggling in. "His grandson was really good."

Genjiro put his clawed hand on her cute little head and petted her, "Yea, his grandson really was good."


	7. Rifles and Trifles

The 9th floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick helds many kinds facilities for relaxation and recreation, one such facility was an indoor shooting range. The range was very simple and modern looking, complete with sandbag walls, gun mounts, moveable targets, and back rooms for storing guns and ammunition.

Back in YGGDRASIL, the targets on the range were usually simple inanimate ringed targets, and the guns shooting at them usually ranged from modern automatic rifles to sci-fi-esque laser weapons. However the targets that stood on the range currently were various undead such as zombies and death knights, and the guns shooting at them looked to be a mid 19th century rifles.

"Hmmm… I don't think I quite understand it yet." Entoma was sitting on the ground with a mortar and pestle, grinding materials together into a greyish powder. In front of her were three piles of white, black, and yellow dust like materials and she was using a small scale to precisely measure their weights.

"That's all right, allow me to explain it again. When the potassium nitrate and sulfur are exposed to the spark, the potassium nitrate decomposes and they react to form potassium sulfate and potassium sulfide along with nitrogen gas. This is an exothermic reaction and the heat given off along with the oxygen supplied from the nitrate react with the carbon in the charcoal to form carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other various carbonates. This causes a surge of heat and energy, and along with the sulfur, serves to stabilize and perpetuate the chain reaction."

Genjiro aimed his ashen-grey eyes down the iron sights of the rifle and pulled the trigger. **_Bang._** A puff of grey dust erupted out of the head of the death knight he was aiming at.

Entoma was carefully measuring out the next set of ingredients to put in her mortar. "And those gases heat and expand causing the explosion right?"

Genjiro began reloading the rifle, carefully taking some gunpowder from the pile beside him. "Correct, but it should be noted that it isn't an explosion per say, but rather a rapid deflagration. A truly explosive detonation wouldn't push the bullet down the barrel as well and would only serve to damage the gun."

 ** _Bang._** Another puff of dust erupted from the death knight's head and it crumpled to the ground. "I may have lost count, that was 36 right?"

Entoma put her measured powders into her mortar and began to grind them together, "Yes, I think that was 36."

"Alrighty then." Genjiro put down the rifle and grabbed a pencil from thin air. He walked over to a chart on the wall with various records of numbers, monsters, bullet types, and other information. He wrote down: |DEATHKNIGHT: 6500 HP| BASE RESIST: APPROX. 78% |ONLY HEADSHOTS| SILVER BULLETS| 36 SHOTS|. He did some quick arithmetic in his head and then wrote after it |APPROX. DMG PER SHOT: 108| APPROX. SILVER MODIFIER: X4|.

"Hmm, as expected, the silver bullets are incredibly effective against the undead. Alright, let's move on to the zombies."

"Hai." A giant beetle dropped from the ceiling and dragged the death knight's corpse out of the room. Soon a zombie came out and stood where the death knight used to be.

"Still, Genjiro-sama, I'm not quite sure why we are testing these guns so thoroughly."

Genjiro leaned into the wooden stock of the rifle and aimed at the zombie's torso. "Hmmm, how can I put this in a way that will make sense to you?"

 ** _Bang._** "In YGGDRASIL. Damage is the same regardless of where you hit your opponent, hitting him in the torso would do the same amount of damage when hitting him the hand, the only exception is when you hit your opponents head for double damage. Your opponent would simply die when you did enough damage to completely deplete their HP"

Genjiro began to reload the rifle, putting a paper-gunpowder cartridge and lead bullet down the barrel and packing it down with a ramrod. "However, when we moved to this world, this system became a lot more, how should I say this, complex."

"Complex?"

"Yes, complex."

He finished reloading and took aim at the same spot he had just fired at. "When we moved to this world, the system became much more cruel and unforgiving. We now have things such as pain and physiology to take into account. A human being will die if their brain stops receiving oxygen, or if they lose too much blood, or if a vital organ ceases to function and so on, there are many ways for someone to die. A critical wound to the heart is fatal, and a critical wound to a fingernail is laughable, but both would have been calculated the same way in YGGDRASIL."

 ** _Bang._** The zombie didn't die, but it dropped down onto one knee, It was on its last legs. "From what we've seen so far, I theorize it may work something like this. Let's say everyone in this world possess a physiology, an HP pool, and a variable level of resistance to damage. If I swung a sword at someone, the first thing that needs to be considered is their resistance to damage. This is determined by their armor, how they choose to defend, where the attack occurs, and their overall level. If the defender has more than adequate defenses or is just simply at a much higher level, the attack may be voided altogether. For example, a level 10 human shooting an arrow at someone like Demiurge would simply find himself doing absolutely no damage."

Genjiro had already reloaded and was preparing for another shot. "Back to the sword, after the resistance is calculated, the leftover damage is taken out of the defender's HP Pool, but this is where it gets a little tricky. Physiology begins to matter more the lower ones HP gets. If my sword was calculated to do 400 damage to the defender, and the defender had 2900 HP, their HP would drop down to 2500 and would experience 400 damage worth of pain, that level of pain isn't too bad, just a little uncomfortable, I imagine you might even like it if you're a masochist, but I digress. My attack did only about 14% of their HP, and as such, the affect my sword would normally have had on their body was cut down to about 14%. An attack that looked like it should've take off an arm would maybe only leave a small cut."

 ** _Bang._** The zombie collapsed to the ground and was carried off by a giant beetle. Genjiro got up to record this on the chart. "This would've been a different story if the defender had say, 500 HP, something on par with maybe that lizardman, Zary-something. My 400 damage sword strike would've dealt 80% of his HP, and he would soon find his arm dangling from a few tendons. And not only would the feel the pain that comes from receiving 400 points of damage, but also the vastly more severe physiological pain of having one's arm nearly chopped off. Now he has 100 HP left and is fighting with one arm, the next attack he receives will likely be his last if it hits a vital spot. And even if that attack doesn't come, he will likely die of blood loss if he didn't receive healing"

Genjiro took aim at the new zombie that took its place, this time aiming for the head. "This is how you can kill someone in this world without fully depleting their HP. A single powerful attack that does say maybe a third of one's HP could still kill someone if it is aimed accurately at a vital organ. If this gun was calculated to do 200 damage after resistances and I aimed it at human who had 600 health, it would only penetrate about the third of the way it normally would back in my world. However if I was aiming at this person's head and the bullet was still able to penetrate far enough into his skull, he would surely die from brain damage as long as he didn't receive healing."

 ** _Bang._** He shot the zombie clean through the head and it collapsed to the ground. "Because this theory is based on percentages, it also means that those of us with considerably higher HP pools aren't necessarily safe either. Take Sebas for example and his HP pool of 95,000. If you could somehow deal a powerful attack, maybe say 50,000 points of damage, and it was aimed and concentrated at a vital spot, it could potentially kill him. However, it would take a world item or something similar to deal that kind of monstrous damage in a single attack after all of Sebas' various resistances and defenses, but I digress."

Genjiro watched as Entoma's beetle dragged the dead zombie away, shortly to be replaced by a new one. "So that is why we're testing these guns so thoroughly, I want to get a good feeling for the kind of damage potential we're dealing with here, and so far it looks promising. I think a simple lead bullet could probably kill an unprepared gold plate adventurer with a little bit of luck. It would be nice If I could test these on some of the more powerful people here in Nazarick like the floor guardians, but I can't imagine the kind of look Ainz would give me if I asked him to allow it."

Entoma had finished grinding her gunpowder and was carefully adding it to the pile at her creators feet. "You can test them on me!"

Genjiro was an immolationist, but suddenly his aura had turned very cold.

"Entoma dear."

"Y-Yes?"

 ** _Bang._**

"Don't ever say something so stupid like that again."

"H-Hai…" Entoma looked down and tried to return to her work, not fully understanding what she had done wrong. _But didn't he just say he wanted to test it out on the floor guardians?_ She was worried and afraid because this was the first time her creator had ever taken such a tone with her.

They sat in silence for a long time. The only sound on the shooting range was the methodical discharge of the rifle.

After sitting like that for a long time and completing several more batches of gunpowder, she had worked up the courage and decided to ask Genjiro a question. She knew that her creator liked it when she asked questions and that he enjoyed explaining things.

"Why are we giving the human's guns?"

Genjiro had finished firing at the undead and was now doing long division on the chart.

The tone he demonstrated earlier was nowhere to be found. "Aww yes, why indeed."

Entoma waited in anticipation for him to continue.

"Guns are power Entoma dear. An emaciated beggar can be taken off the street and taught to kill with just the pull of a trigger. A lord controls his land because he controls the swords, the armor, and the soldiers. However, the fully clad veteran knight is powerless before the peasant with a rifle."

"But if guns are so powerful, why are we giving them away? Wouldn't it be best to keep them all for ourselves?"

"That might seem like the right choice at first, but think of it this way. Once the leaders of this world realize the god-like power guns hold in a world of spears, they will do everything they can to get their hands on them. Granted, the guns are a little hard to make, it even took our blacksmith here in Nazarick a couple tries to get the rifling right, but there are talented individuals in this world, and I'm sure they will figure out how to make them in no time. Armored knights will become obsolete and lords will find it increasingly difficult to hold on to their fiefdoms. Back in my world, the proliferation of firearms marked a swift and decisive end to feudalism, but I digress."

Genjiro had finished his long division and was looking at the shooting range's grey ceiling, it reminded him of his home. "Countries will undergo a massive arms race to accumulate as many firearms as possible in order to get an advantage over their enemies, such is the nature of war."

"How do you know so much about this?" Entoma was getting really entranced by Genjiro's explanation and hadn't realized she had just asked the question aloud.

"Hehe, well let's just say I'm very well antiquated with humans and their history of war. Once people are fighting wars with guns, Nazarick will have already won, why do you think that is?"

Entoma put her hand up and rested her jaw on it, thinking deeply. After a few seconds her antenna perked up. "Because we control the gunpowder!"

Genjiro smiled and put his finger up like a teacher giving a lecture. "That's correct Entoma dear. We are currently the only two people in this world who know the full process of making gunpowder. When Momon and Zen popularise the gun and trigger this arms race, the value of gunpowder will surpass gold overnight. And since we decide who does and doesn't get the gunpowder, countries will line up at our door asking for our favor. Also, no one would dare anger us because we can simply withhold their gunpowder and cripple their military. We will control the means of war, and a country's military might will be solely measured by how much Nazarick likes them."

Genjiro smiled. "This is the plan that I had come up with, and this is what it truly means to strengthen Nazarick."

He smiled once more and put his finger down, having completed his lecture. He looked over at Entoma. Her eyes were full of awe and admiration at the wisdom of her creator. In that moment, she thought that person standing proudly before her, the person she looked up to like a father, was the single greatest and most intelligent being in all of Nazarick, someone who far surpassed Demiurge and even the great Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Hehe, and it doesn't stop there, there's also-"

He was interrupted by a voice in his head, "Genjiro-san?"

He stopped and sighed harshly because he knew it would mean an end to looking at Entoma's adorable doting face.

He put his hand on his ear, "What is it Ainz?"

"Woah, are you okay Genjiro-san? That tone was rather harsh."

Genjiro shook his head out and softened his tone, "Ah, yes, I'm fine, sorry about that, what do you need Ainz?"

"It's about Sebas, it seems there is a chance he has betrayed us."

"Wait what? Are you serious?"

"I doubt it, but regardless, I need you here to help with a little scheme, it shouldn't take long."

Genjiro glanced at Entoma "Okay, I'll be right over."

He hung up and walked over to where Entoma was sitting.

"It seems I have a little errand to run Entoma dear, but I'll be back soon."

He leaned down and suddenly did something she had not expected. He got down to one knee and hugged her. His embrace was warm and he smelled really good. She was so mystified she didn't know how to react.

Genjiro let go and walked toward the gate that had just appeared. He stopped and turned before walking through.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

He pulled out a small metallic sphere labeled "For Entoma". It grew to about the size of a basket ball and he reached in and pulled out a severed arm.

"For being such a good listener." He tossed the arm to Entoma and she caught it.

Genjiro walked through the gate and disappeared.

.

.

"People are not perfect, and mistakes are to be expected. Sebas. I shall forgive this trifling mistake of yours."

Sitting on the throne before Sebas was the absolute ruler of Nazarick and the supreme overlord of death, Ainz Ooal Gown. With him were the guardian of the 7th floor, the demon Demiurge, and the guardian of the 8th floor, the angelic fetus Victim. Standing behind was the guardian of the 5th floor, the vermin lord Cocytus. And at his side, the reason for all of this, the girl he had saved off the streets, Tsuare. The atmosphere of the room was murderous.

"-Thank you, Ainz-sama."

"However, mistakes must be rectified - by death."

Sebas gulped.

"...What… do you mean…?"

"Hm… what I mean is that I expect you to eliminate the source of your mistake in order to wipe the slate clean. How can you be the representative of everyone else when you leave the origin of your error untouched? You are the butler of Nazarick, and one who stands at the head of the manservants. If you do not handle the matter appropriately…"

Sebas' breathing was frantic.

"Sebas. Are you a loyal hound who obeys the orders of my exalted self, of Genjiro, of the 41 Supreme Beings? Or are you a man who believes that your will alone is righteous?"

"This-"

"-I do not need your answer. Show me your conclusion."

Sebas hesitated for a moment, but it was only a moment, he had no other option. His eyes became hard and he swung his fist, hoping to grant Tsuare the mercy of an instant death.

And then-

-Something hard had intercepted his fist.

Stepping out of a shroud of invisibility, two hands were revealed to be holding his fist. Before him stood the form of a Fallen Seraph, It's wings sprouted from its back and were as black as the night sky. Its hair was long and black, flowing down and around its pale face. Its eyes were a deep ruby-amethyst, and the expression they showed were - dissapointment?

Genjiro's voice was incredibly cold. "Stand down, Sebas."

Sebas realized that this had all been planned in advance and stood down, relieved at his masters' kindness and mercy. Tsurae crashed to the ground in tears.

"It was a killing blow. I have no doubt about Sebas' loyalty, how about you, Ainz?"

The overlord stood up from his throne. "I have no more doubts. I declare that Sebas' loyalty is no longer in question. Demiurge, any objections?

"I have none."

"Cocytus?"

"None."

"Victim?"

"?!ecnerefer s'ojoJ gnikcuf rehtom a taht sI" (I have none).

"Very well. Then, let us move to the next item."

Ainz snapped his fingers and swept his hand grandly through the air. Genjiro let go of Sebas' still shaking hands and joined Ainz at his side.

"Thanks to the efforts of Sebas and the others, I feel we have gathered sufficient information. There is no reason to linger in this place. We shall vacate this property immediately and return to Nazarick. Sebas, I will leave the the matter of this woman to you"

Genjiro took Victim in his hands and Ainz cast [Greater Teleportation], taking all three of them with him.

.

.

Ainz had teleported the three of them into the throne room of Nazarick. Genjiro let go of Victim.

"Thank you Victim, you're free to go."

"em pleh ,ogeiD naS ni moor ym edistuo C° 93 stI." (I'll take my leave then.)

Victim floated away down the hall and teleported away.

Genjiro's voice had a hint of humor and a bit of disappointment in it. "Seems that I'm out a million yen, Ainz. I was convinced that if Sebas was anything like Touch-me he wouldn't kill her."

"Its true that the NPCs take after their creators, but they are still immeasurably loyal. You may have not experienced their loyalty to the same degree that I have since you've been running around with Entoma all this time."

"Speaking of which, It's about time for her chemistry lesson, we're going over titration today, talk to you later."

"Wait, Genjiro-san -"

But it was already too late, Genjiro had already used his ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport away. Leaving Ainz all alone in the throne room.

He stood there in the empty hall for a long time, It reminded him of all the days he had sat there in YGGDRASIL, watching his friends list in hopes that he would see someone log on.

He looked at all the banners of his guild mates hanging around the room. His eyes rested on Genjiro's, it seemed just as dark and distant as the rest of them.

"Hehe, his symbol sort of looks like a flask, that guy sure does love his chemistry, and that girl.

He sighed deeply, "Well, I've got work to do as well."

.

.

Entoma was sitting alone on the floor of the shooting range and grinding up another batch of gunpowder. She was also happily munching on the arm she had just received from her creator a few minutes prior.

She had just finished when-

"Entoma **_dear._** "

The was a light but scarily sadistic voice coming from around the corner. It revealed itself to be a succubus with ebony wings and alabaster skin.

"A-Albedo-sama? What are you doing here."

Albedo waltzed around the room in wide arcs. "Ohhhhhhh nothing, I just wanted to see my favorite little maid."

Entoma stared at the bizarre scene not knowing how to address her.

"You **_are_** in my camp right?"

"Y-Your camp?"

"Yes my camp. My camp for Ainz-sama's bride of course. Don't tell me you're with that lamprey." Albedo was keenly watching Entoma's every movement.

"N-No Albedo-sama, I'm in your camp."

"Good good. Then tell me Entoma **_dear_** -"

Albedo was slowly waltzing around the room in Entoma's general direction, lazily glancing this way and that. But then suddenly she snapped and ran straight at Entoma, grabbing her shoulders and throttling her.

"HOW DID YOU DO IT!?"

"W-wha!?" Entoma was being throttled back and forth and had no idea what was going on.

"HOW DID YOU DO IT!? HOW!? I had heard from Lupusregina that you… you… did **_it_** , with Genjiro-sama. How did you do it, what's your secret!?"

Entoma was still being throttled but she immediately realized what Albedo was asking _Wha! I was just joking around with Lupu-nee and Yuri-nee! I didn't think they would take it seriously! Genjiro-sama would never do something like that! Ahhhh!_

Entoma's face was turning red just thinking about it. Albedo saw her face changing color and started shaking her even harder. "WAIT SO YOU DID DO IT! TELL ME!"

Albedo dropped to the ground and did a dogeza. "Please Entoma! I can't take this anymore! Ainz-sama won't even take me seriously!"

Entoma quickly put her hands up flustered. "A-Albedo-sama, It's not like that! P-Please get up."

Albedo looked up at Entoma's face. "It's not like that? Are you saying that there is no secret technique!? Are you trying to say that **_Ainz-sama_** just doesn't love me!?" She nearly climaxed as she said his name.

"Wait no-"

Albedo got up and started dramatically waltzing about the room, knocking over the scales and powders that Entoma and Genjiro had so carefully measured and aligned.

"Albedo-sama, be careful-"

Albedo was talking like she had been shot through the heart "OOoooh maybe it's truuuuuue. Ainz-sama doesn't call me dear after all. Tell me Entoma, does Ainz-sama not love me?"

"I-I think Ainz-sama l-loves you very-"

"OOOooooh and to think that someone like you managed to make Genjiro-sama, a supreme being, fall for **_you_** , a dirty cockroach eater."

Albedo was banging her fist fist on the wall and talking through sobs. "All I want is for Ainz-sama to love me and call me dear and give me his child, is that too much to ask?"

"N-No Albedo-sama, I think that is a very reasonable request-"

"Right! So what am I doing wrong!?"

She fell to her knees and let loose. "AINZ-SAMA!"

Entoma stared dumbfoundedly at this trainwreck before her. "M-Mabye you should ask Genjiro-sama, h-he is really smart and-"

Albedo's disposition changed like the turn of a dime, her eyes narrowed like she had just thought of something, "Ahhh yes, Genjiro-sama. Ehehehehe." She started to laugh evilly.

She suddenly stood up and made for the door, she looked back in a pleasantly saccharine smile as if nothing had happened. "Thank you for the talk, Entoma **_dear_**."

She left without waiting for a response, leaving behind the room she had just destroyed in her haranguing.

Entoma stood there speechless, _Genjiro-sama, what have I done?_

Suddenly Albedo's head peeked back around the corner. "Oh, and clean up this mess."

"H-Hai…."

.

.

Genjiro had installed a white board that dropped down from the ceiling in his lab room, not only because it was useful if he needed to do some math, but also because it was incredibly well suited for teaching.

Genjiro stood at the board pointing at a graph that had an "S" shaped curve on it. He was speaking passionately and elatedly to the student before him.

"As you can see, this is determined by acknowledging the change in the pH as new solution is being added. Since the graph begins at a high pH of 13, the first solution must be a strong base, and because it ends at a pH of close to 6, one can guess that the solution being added to reach neutralization must be a weak acid."

Entoma was sitting in a big fluffy chair writing furiously in a notebook. "So what that means is that the neutralization point is not at 7 because there is a big difference in strength?"

Genjiro smiled, he had discovered that watching the little girl in front of him learn was one of the few things that made him very happy since coming to the new world.

"Yes yes, you're sort of on to it. I think it would be best to think of it like-"

But that thought was cut short by a voice in his head, "Genjiro-san?"

This was the second time that day his dialogue with Entoma had been interrupted by the skeleton, he did everything in his power to hide the frustration in his voice, "What can I do for you, Ainz."

"That girl that Sebas had brought in has been abducted, I want you to assist him in retrieving her, I'm also sending the other guardians to clear out their other bases."

"That really is a shame Ainz, but I'm in the middle of something important at the moment."

"Are you saying that your little lesson with Entoma is more important than protecting someone I've entrusted with my name?"

"Ainz-"

"Genjiro"

To Genjiro, it seemed Ainz's voice had become a mixture of frustration and sadness."I've been letting you run around with Entoma because you are my friend and because I trust that what you are doing is for the good of Nazarick. However, it is you and the others who made me your guild leader."

"Well yes-"

"So I ask you again Genjiro. This mission is actually quite important, I owe that girl somewhat of a debt. And surely you can bear to part with Entoma for a little while yes? You've already spent so much time with her after all."

Genjiro looked over at Entoma, she was sitting politely, waiting for Genjiro to finish his message. "I understand… guild leader."

"Good. And besides Genjiro-san, I'm sure you would do the same if you learned you had the chance to save the long lost sister of someone like that Niven kid."

"Wait, how do you know about-"

Ainz had already hung up.

 _How did he know about that? Had he been spying on Entoma and I? Or did he question Entoma behind my back? And actually now that I think about it, that entire conversation was very out of character for Ainz. What's gotten into him?_ Genjiro's thoughts were in disarray.

"Genjiro-sama?"

He shook these thoughts out of his head, "Yes, I apologize Entoma dear, It seems I'm going to have to run another errand. That's it for the lesson today. You're free to return to your quarters"

Entoma looked down, visibly disappointed. "Okay, I understand."

She walked to the door and bowed once more to her creator. "Bye-bye Genjiro-sama!"

He watched her leave, "Bye, Entoma dear."

He stood looking at the empty chair for a long time. Then he sighed deeply.

 _Well, I've been meaning to test out the rifles in actual combat anyway._

 **After reading a bunch of PM's and reviews on several different occasions, it's clear to me that many of you reading this in the future are going to be confused about the nature of the firearms he is using. Some of you will take note of the muzzle loading and assume its a musket, and some of you will look at the riffled barrel and think it's a rifle. Well fear no more, because even though I'm simply calling them rifles, their true name in the history of firearms is "Rifled Musket" or "Minié rifle", yes that is their actual name, I did not make that up. They were traditionally smooth bore muskets that had their barrels removed and replaced with rifled ones. So yes, they were indeed muzzle loaded weapons that were loaded in the normal fashion one would load a musket, the only difference being that instead of an iron or lead ball being used as the projectile, they use minié balls which where able to utilize the rifling. The chief example of the kind of gun that Genjiro is using would have to be the 1861 Springfield rifled musket, which was the most widely used firearm of its kind, that is before they were replaced with later models that used lever action/breach loading that required ammunition that had a primer and casing.**

 **I hope this clears up any questions you may have had, and as always, thanks for reading!**


	8. Headshot

It was hours past dusk and the lights of Re-Estize were mixing with the black sky to form a murky grey. Four people stood huddled in a lightless alley. Around them were dark grey walls that imposed upon them, making them seem like they were in a prison.

The person speaking was dressed like a thief, "I understand. Then it'll be just us three sneaking in."

A reply came from a young man with a mop of purple-blue hair and a katana at his waist. "If our magic caster could use [Silence] spells or the like, it'd be a different matter… well, if it's just the three of us, then there's still a way. I'll ask everyone to cast [Invisibility] spells on us."

One of theme took off his mythril helmet that had been dyed black, revealing his short blonde hair. "My helmet can see through invisibility once a day, so I've no problems if everyone is invisible."

Brain nodded to Climb. "Is that so. Then communications between the infiltration party ought to be fine. In that case, we'll be going in first; please wait a while before making your move, Sebas-sama."

The three of them directed their gazes at the iron-faced butler who had been listening quietly to their strategizing.

"In that case gentlemen, I will be counting on you."

Sebas began to bow his head before-

-a hand appeared on his shoulder.

"It seems I made it just in time, Sebas."

The four of them were startled by the stranger that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

The thief, Lockmyer, began to speak up. "What the? Where did you-"

He was interrupted by Sebas before he could finish his sentence "Ge-, Zen-sama, what are you doing here?"

 _Zen-sama?_

Zen pulled down his hood revealing his smiling face to the three humans before him, "I heard about the girl and I wasn't about to let our family's favourite butler go in there by himself. I'm here to help. So tell me, who are these young gentlemen?"

Sebas quickly recovered from his surprise in a manner befitting a butler. "This here is Climb-kun, he's a respectable and reliable kid."

Zen went to shake Climb's gauntleted hand. Climb hesitated slightly but quickly decided it would be best to accept the handshake.

"Greetings Climb-kun, I'm Zen, you can think of me as Sebas' superior."

"G-Greetings, Zen-.. sama?"

Sebas nodded and moved on to the thief. "This is...-" He realized he hadn't gotten his name.

"- It's Lockmyer, nice to meet you."

Zen shook his hand, "Nice to meet you too."

"And this is Brain Unglaus. He along with Climb-kun has been helping me here in the city these last few days. He is strong and reliable."

"Your words do me honor Sebas-sama."

He grasped Zen's hand firmly and looked into his eyes as if trying to confirm something. He stared into them for a long time, Zen evenly returned his gaze. Suddenly Brain smiled and continued.

"Zen was it? A friend of Sebas-sama is a friend of mine. You seem like a capable man who knows their way around a blade ."

Zen returned his handshake and smiled. "Nice to meet you too. Though I really am just a humble scientist who happens to know how to swing a piece of metal around."

He put his hand on pommel of his sword.

"So it seems to me that you guys are planning an assault on this eight-fingers hideout, what's the plan currently?"

Climb and Lockmyer looked to each other and then to Sebas and Brain as if asking them if this stranger who appeared out of nowhere could be trusted, both Sebas and Brain nodded.

"We've confirmed that the five remaining members of the six arms are here, as well as the girl that Sebas-sama is trying to rescue. The plan currently is for us to sneak in in advance using [Invisibility] to rescue the hostage, while Sebas distracts the six arms in the training area."

Zen nodded in affirmative. "In that case I'll be going along with you three, I'm very capable when it comes to stealth. I trust there are no objections?"

Sebas was the only one to speak up, "Are you sure Zen-sama? To leave you alone would be-"

"It's okay Sebas, I need some exercise and these kids need a chaperone."

Lockmyer and Climb looked like they wanted to say something in protest and Brain chuckled quietly under his breath.

"In that case, I wish you luck Zen-sama." Sebas bowed.

"Good luck to you as well. Oh wait, do you still have that abduction letter those goons left when they kidnap the girl, I have an idea."

Sebas nodded and handed Zen the letter.

Zen took it and turned to the three of them, "Thank you, then, shall we begin gentlemen?"

[Invisibility]

.

.

"So what's this 'scientist' thing you mentioned earlier?"

The four of them were running through the empty corridor under a shroud of [Invisibility], but thanks to Climb's helmet he could see the other three's washed out forms. Zen had cast [Silence] around them so that they could converse without alerting any enemies that may be around them. If they had known that he could cast such a spell earlier, they would've gone back to get more people for the infiltration, but it couldn't be helped now.

"Someone who possesses an insatiable curiosity, and who looks at the teachings of their superiors with an unmovable skepticism. Someone who strives to obliterate ignorance, and one who values truth above all else. That my friend, is a scientist."

Brain chuckled lightly, "You sound more like one of those dime a dozen poets to me."

Suddenly Zen laughed heartily and Climb was afraid it would affect the [Silence], "Hahaha, you're certainly right about that! You'll find that most of us are like that. But you can also think of me as somewhat of an inventor."

Climb saw as Zen pulled a strange looking stick from seemingly nowhere.

Lockmyer was in the lead position and the one to stop their merriment.

"Sorry for the sudden halt. This is it. The cells are just beyond this corner, and there's a woman in the innermost one."

Their [Invisibility] had run out and Climb could see everyone's washed out forms gain detail.

"...There's nobody around, the same way it was when I came here just now. let's move in quickly and rescue the hostage"

The thief led the way, followed by Climb and Brain, while Zen held the back position.

They came to the locked cell door and Lockmyer began disengaging the magical lock. "Is that Tsuare-san?" Climb called out to the woman in the cell. The woman lying on the floor propped herself up.

Climb calmed down greatly as he realised that they had cleared their first objective and could now focus on escaping the facility safely.

Lockmyer had finished disarming the lock and the cell door opened allowing Climb to step inside. "Sebas-sama asked us to rescue you. Please, follow me."

As Tsuare emerged from the cell, she looked at Brain then Zen, then the thief, and then back to Brain where they rested the longest.

"Let's get out of here before the enemy arrives."

Lockmyer nodded in affirmative, "Right, I got it. I'll lead and you follow, like just now. However, there's no invisibility magic this time round. I'll be advancing while keeping an eye open, so don't miss my signals."

"Got it… what's the matter, Brain-sama?" Climb asked Brain, who had been studying Tsuare out the corner of his eye.

"Hm? …Oh, no, it's nothing, Climb-kun."

Climb looked at lockmyer who was also glancing at Tsuare. And then he look at Zen and saw-

-humor and disgust?

Zen was looking at Tsuare like he had just seen something abhorrently cringe worthy.

"Z-Zen-sama, are you okay-"

"-I'll go secure the hostage, I'll leave those two to you three."

"Wait, what are you talking-"

Zen had already disappeared without a trace.

Before anyone could react, a huge hulking form appeared and there was a tremendous crash. The thief had been knocked clear across the room.

The person that now blocked their path was a tattooed boulder, with the eyes of a raging bull.

The man's named flashed through Climb's brain.

"Zero!"

"...Indeed, kid. You're that whore's slave, aren't you? Hmph! To think there'd be ants crawling in here. Just leave a bit of bait out and you're everywhere."

Brain stepped out and stood in front of Climb, giving him a chance to tend to Lockmyer who was currently rolling on the ground.

"Are you alright? Do you have some way to heal yourself?"

The thief didn't answer clearly and was in incredible pain, Climb saw the fist-shaped dent in his breast plate. He shook his head trying to avoid thinking about the unimaginable strength that Zero must have. He started digging through his things as Lockmyer directed.

 _Where did Zen go?_

"I've seen your face before. You're Brain Unglaus, aren't you? The man who fought on par with Gazef Stronoff. Your name's not for show; none of your movements expose any weaknesses. By the looks of that, you must have been training yourself after that tournament. Now I understand. Succulent didn't lose because he was careless, but because he faced you head-on. He lost because his foe was too strong. I have to forgive his failure just this once. Alright, you made me lose face, so normally I'd have to kill you. However, I'm a generous man. On account of your peerless sword skills, I'll give you a chance. Kneel before me and swear to be my subordinate, and I'll spare your life."

"You won't stinge on the money, will you?"

"Oh… are you interested…?"

"Why not hear you out? I _did_ beat Succulent, so I should be able to look forward to good treatment, no?"

"Hahaha! Your desires do run deep. You're talking money before begging me for your life. You can't take it with you, you know."

"Oi oi, what the hell. You mean you can't pay? I didn't expect you lot to be that poor. Or are you pocketing all the money yourself?"

"The hell you say?!"

Tsuare had begun slowly shifting to behind Brain's back

Climb was still treating Lockmyer and the thief had recovered enough and stood up.

"Hmph, so the ant stood up? Bought enough time for him, haven't you? It's about time to tell me what you really think. No, there's no need to speak. Kneel, or don't kneel! Show me, Unglaus!"

Brain snorted and that was the only cue Zero needed and charged.

"Climb-kun, I'll leave the enemy behind to you!"

Climb suddenly realized why Brain, Lockmyer, and Zen had all looked at Tsuare strangely.

Tsuare's voice turned to that of a decrepit man "So you already saw through it!" Tsuare's form disappeared and in its place appeared a slimy pale man in a maid outfit.

Lockmyer's thrown dagger was sharp and quick, but the Illusion demon Succulent was even faster and he dodged gracefully out the way.

"We meet again, kid." Succulent stood before Climb.

Brain had helped him defeat his opponent last time. But Brain was currentlly giving his all fighting Zero.

 _My enemy is stronger than me, and Zen isn't here. But I can't back down._ _I must win._

With this determination in his heart, Climb took a step toward Succulent

Climb felt Lockmeyer's hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. it's okay, I'll help you too,"

Succulent stood confidently "Ha. What do you expect to do. It's just you, _boy._ And a thief who can barely stand. You are powerless without Unglaus"

Succulent started making illusionary clones of himself. His multiple forms began slashing repeatedly at Climb's exposed joints.

Succulent started talking through the noise of steel hitting mythril, "Here is what is going to happen. First I'm going to kill that annoying piss throwing thief in the back."

Climb heard a grunt of pain behind him and saw that Lockmyer had taken a hit.

"Then I'm going to skewer you slowly and make sure you suffer every remaining moment of your life."

Climb felt a sharp bolt of pain go through the back of his leg.

Succulents voice began to get more forceful seeing as he was pushing them back. "Yes, yes! And once Zero kills Unglaus, we're going to go after that whore princess of yours next!'

"Don't-"

"Oh yes! I wonder if her face will still be pretty after I've gorged out one of her eyeballs and she's sucking on my-"

 _ **Bang.**_

There was a noise of what Climb could only describe as the sound of thunder, sharp and potent, ringing in his ears and echoing in his soul.

Blood spurted from Succulent's head and he crumpled to the ground, dead.

"That was by far the most disgusting maid cosplay I've ever had the displeasure of seeing."

Climb turned around to see Zen's iconic grey cloak. He was holding the strange stick he had seen earlier, faint smoke was rising out of it. Behind him was a girl wrapped up in a blanket that he assumed was the real Tsuare.

"H-How d-did-" Climb collapsed to the floor.

"How did I kill the bastard from all the way over here? I think you along with many others will figure out shortly, but we have other things to worry about at the moment."

Climb directed his attention to Brain and Zero, their battle was on an entirely different level. Blows were being exchanged too quickly for him to track. The walls and floor were being completely torn up in the crossfire.

Zen crouched down and dangled a potion in front of his face, It was the color of blood. "Even if you haven't taken any serious injuries, it'll help calm you down."

Climb looked back and saw that Lockmyer was already drinking one of the red potions as well. He started to open the canister but then stopped himself, pushing the potion back into Zen's hands.

"W-wait! Shouldn't we be helping them!"

Climb tried to get up but Zen's hand stopped him. "Look, help has just arrived."

Zero and Brain were still going at it and it seemed that they had reached the climax of their fight. "Regret the fact that you dared stand against the almighty Zero! Here I come!"

Zero's tattoos began to glow faintly. Brain, on his part, remained still. Climb could see the enormous power growing inside of Zero's body.

Suddenly a nonchalant voice cut in. "So you gentlemen were here after all."

Everyone in the room turned their gazes and was surprised to see the iron butler. All except for Zen.

"That took longer than expected Sebas, I already saved the girl." Zen gestured to Tsuare who was wrapped up in a blanket behind him.

"Apologies, Zen-sama."

Zero had stopped his bout with Brain and was staring at the butler with murderous eyes.

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Sebas' reply was as smooth as steel and just as cold. "I killed all your subordinates and came here to clean things up."

"Preposterous! Brain Unglaus. I'll fight you later. I'm going to show this man the power of Six Arms!"

Zero's tattoos began to burn brightly as he prepared to charge.

Zen called out to sebas from across the room. "Sebas! The bullet is enchanted oblivionite so it should be more than enough! I used the abduction letter as the wadding! Do him some poetic justice! "

Zen threw a stick to Sebas that looked very similar to the one he had been using earlier and Climb had finally realized that it must have been some kind of weapon. It sailed cleanly through the air and landed in Sebas' hands.

"With pleasure."

Climb watched as Sebas brought the end of the strange weapon to his collar and pressed his cheek to it, looking down its long shaft.

Zero's tattoos ignited into brilliant flames. The leopard on his feet, the falcon on his back, the rhino on his arms, the bull on his chest, the lion on his head, they all lit aflame. He felt an explosive power gush out through his body and it felt as though his entire body had swelled up.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Zero exploded with ferocious speed at the butler, tearing up the walls as he past.

The last thing he saw was the eye of a dragon, staring coldly at him through iron-sights.

 _ **Bang.**_

Zero's head exploded mid sprint. His lifeless body continued down the hallway due to momentum and skid across the ground, smearing and staining the floor with his brain.

Climb, Lockmyer, and Brain all stared at Sebas, they stared at Zen, they stared at the stain Zero left on the ground, but most of all, they all stared at the strange smoking weapon in Sebas' hands.

"It seems your gun was just a little bit stronger than him, Zen-sama."

 _A LITTLE BIT!? HIS HEAD EXPLODED!_

Zen scooped up Tsuare and walked over and Sebas. He gave her to Sebas and Sebas returned the "gun".

Zen started talking nonchalantly "Yes, it's a shame we couldn't capture one of them alive, but I guess it couldn't be helped. Well, at least he has some nice looking arms."

He knelt down and drew his dagger, making quick work of Zero's shoulders. He put the severed arms in a strange metallic sphere. The three of them watching this were still too stunned by the events that had just happened to even question the strange scientist.

Suddenly Zen stood up and the two of them started walking down the hall as if nothing had happened. "In any case, since we've rescued her, I think it might be best to retreat for now."

The other three finally snapped out of their daze and started clambering after them, taking care not trip over Zero's headless and armless corpse.

Brain was the first to speak up "W-Wait, what was that!?"

Zen looked over his shoulder, "I told you you could think of me as an inventor right? Well, this is an invention. It's called a gun. Now come along children."

Zen made a gesture for the three of them to catch up.

Lockmyer had completely recovered and was staring at the empty canister of what he must've thought had just recently held the blood of the gods. Climb was stumbling along behind Brain, the black dye of his armor was chipping away and was revealing the brilliant white mythril underneath. And Brain was still staring at the last of the fading smoke escaping from the rifle slung around Zen's shoulder.

"I said you needed a chaperone after all."

He received three staggered "Hai!"s and they walked down the hallway and back out into the alley.

The air was cooler outside. The sky was still a murky grey, but now it had a tinge of red in it

"Now what do you think that could be?"

Zen pointed up over the buildings and the three of them followed his gaze.

Their eyes grew wide as they looked at the massive wall of fire that reached into the sky.

"Well, we have the girl, and I think we've had enough action for today. I'd much rather be teaching right now anyway, so why don't we take our leave here, Sebas."

"Understood, Zen-sama."

Sebas then turned to the three humans and bowed, "Thank you for all your help."

They stared at their backs and started to make a move

"Wait-"

But Zen and Sebas had disappeared before their eyes without a trace.


	9. Recoil

"You said Entoma was on a mission for Demiurge at the moment?"

Sebas was walking down the hall with Tsuare still in his arms, "Yes, If I remember correctly, he had her clearing out another one of the criminals' hideouts, so I imagine she is fine."

Genjiro and Sebas had just finished their mission and had teleported back to Nazarick. "In that case I'll give her her treat when she comes back. Thank you for your work Sebas."

Sebas bowed and Genjiro teleported to his room using the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.

He looked at the bulletin board he had on his wall that he used to organize his plans. _Now that we've located that natural gas deposit, I should start preparations for the mass production of hydrogen gas and ammonia. And since there's natural gas, there is bound to be oil with it, I imagine we can put that to use as well._

He stretched his arms and yawned. _Theres also the matter of setting up my trading company in E-Rantel. And also speaking of Mare, I wonder how that soybean farm is going. I want to start mass producing triglycerides as soon as possible, now that i know I can make nitroglycerine._

He looked at the white board that still had the titration graph on it. _I guess I can finish her lesson tomorrow. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees the pair of arms that I got her._

He sat down at the desk and laid out a blank piece of paper to begin his planning, "Now then, how did the Haber Process work again?"

.

.

The sky in the Re-Estize capital reflected the state of the city underneath. It was a dark diluted grey that had been dyed a murky crimson. Red flickered in the clouds along with the flames of the countless burning buildings underneath, and were enhanced by the perimeter of ghastly fire they were inscribed in.

Outside of one such burning building stood a humanoid girl who looked no more than 13. She was wearing a tattered maid outfit and sprouting from her head was a pair of antennae that were violently contouring as if trying to mangle every molecule of oxygen in the air that displeased her. Beside her was what one could only describe as a man-women, wrapped up in a giant centipede.

Across from her was a badly injured ninja, and a young arcane magic caster who had just recently arrived.

"I'll squash you flat with your friend!" Entoma grabbed the Thousand Lash Bug that was still wrapped around Gagaran and brought it down on Evileye like a mace.

"Hmph, what a boring attack. [Reverse Gravity]"

The Thousand Lash Bug turned weightless and gently floated upward and away from Evileye, unrolling and freeing Gagaran in the process.

Gagaran collapsed to the ground and Evileye barked orders at her.

"Gagaran! You're in the way! Go heal up Tia! If your gloves are used up, feed her potions!"

Entoma realized that the enemy before her could change the tide of the battle against her. She knew she could no long afford to hold back.

She used her most powerful ability [Fly Breath]

Entoma bared her throat, exposing her true face from where a human's chin would be. To an outsider, it would look like her jaw had split open, she vomited a mass of swarming flies.

"You! Is that power connected to the Demon Gods? In that case-"

Evileye cast a spell and a white vapor intercepted the swarm and continued on to the entomancer. The flies dropped dead out of the swarm and when the vapor hit Entoma-

"AHHHhHHhHhhHHH!"

Entoma screamed in pain as her face deformed like it had just been sprayed with acid.

Tia was getting up off the ground due to Gagaran's help "What on earth was that spell?"

"It's an insect-killing spell, [Verminbane]. There was an insectile Demon God among the Demon Gods 200 years ago. So I invented this spell to wipe out the insects it summoned. Ah, well, it's something like a unique creation."

Tia and Gagaran were watching in awe as the entomancer screamed in pain holding her face. "...Her face melted."

Entoma's lip bug fell from her throat and plopped on the ground before wriggling on the ground and dying. Her mask bug fell off her face and revealed her true form. The members of blue rose recoiled in shock as they saw the monster that stood before them.

"YoU dARe… YOu DarE….Pu, puUuNy hUmANsSs! ThAt VoICe WaS GIvEn To Me BY the SUpRemE bEinG!"

The composure that Entoma had demonstrated earlier in their battle was long gone..

"The real battle's about to begin! Don't slack off, you two! What's in store for us is an attack even fiercer than the last!"

Entoma sprouted her extra limbs. She had given up on defense and prioritized taking out the magic caster as quickly as possible. She charged Evileye and cast [Fly Breath].

Evileye clicked her tongue and cast [Verminbane] once more.

"ONlY yOu! yOU'rE tHe OnLy ONe I haVe tO feAR! ONCe You'Re deAd EvErYTHIng elSE WIll bE SimPLe! WhY aRE YOu sO hARD To DeAl wiTH?!"

The white vapor collided with Entoma and she reeled in pain but she kept charging "[Razor Web]!"

She shot barbed web from her maw and Evileye had barely anytime to react "[Crystal Barrier]!"

The crystal wall before her eyes was cut to pieces and vanished before her eyes, it just barely managed to save her.

Tia and Gagaran were now fully off the ground and ready to assist Evileye. They jumped around taking swings at the maid, being careful to maintain their distance.

"POkiNg hERe anD PoKInG theRE… wHaT a PAiN!"

"We need to attack head on and hit her with everything we have to drain her health."

"Easier said than done. What should we do? If we don't hurry up, she's going to finish powering herself up with her talismans."

"We'll just use our strongest moves. For me, it'll be [Verminbane]."

"...Sounds simple enough. Alright, let's finish this."

.

.

The battle carried on for only a little while longer. Together with their numbers they had chipped away at the monster's health. In return Evilieye had barely any mana left, and Gagaran and Tia were on their last legs but still alive.

"Don't make simple mistakes, keep forcing her back!"

Entoma was being forced back, she was wobbly on her legs and she had only a few talismans left.

Her creator's words rang through her head.

" _It's rather simple to pull off the catalysed nitration of glycerol. All you need is some sulfuric acid, some nitric acid, and a little bit of glycerine."_

She felt an [Acid Spear] hit her back.

" _I plan to mass produce it later, but I made this small amount now just to test it out. Be careful now, Entoma dear, It isn't safe to play around with just yet."_

The ninja had tried to attack one of her legs and she responded by raising it and kicking her hard in the chest.

" _It's absorbed into the sawdust so it should be safe to handle now. When someone from my world named Alfred Nobel did this, he was using something called diatomaceous earth, but sawdust works just as well."_

She blocked a downward swing from Gagaran, but cracks were now forming in her exoskeleton.

" _Now Entoma dear, listen carefully. Only use this as a last resort when you have no other options. Once you light the fuse, you'll only have a few seconds before it goes off, make sure you are far away enough before that happens."_

She cast her last [Thunderbirds Talisman] and dozens of small yellow birds flew into the advancing Blue Rose, causing them to stumble.

Entoma began thinking to herself.

 _That's right. Genjiro-sama gave this to me for a moment like this. I have to use it, they're on low health, they will surely all die. I have no other options._

From the tatters of her uniform she revealed a small cylinder about the size of relay baton. It was wrapped in some kind of paper and it had a fuse sprouting out of it.

"DiE KnOWiNg YOu wErE KiLLEd BY tHE GeNIUS oF thE SUpRemE OnE!"

Blue Rose had recovered from the thunderbirds and were carefully watching the final trumpcard of the monster before them through heavy breathing.

Entoma reached down and brought the cylinder to one of the talismans on her leg and the fuse started to burn. Everyone was on low health at this point, anyone hit by the explosion was guaranteed to die.

"NoW DiE!"

Suddenly she hurled the cylinder at Blue Rose. They didn't have time to react. Gagaran tripped as she tried to dodge out of the way. Tia was still in pain from the kick she received and couldn't force her body to move.

Evileye channeled the last of her mana, she had to stop the monster's attack at all costs. She didn't have enough mana to cast [Crystal Barrier], so she prayed the object being thrown at them was light enough to be reflected.

"[Reflection]!"

An invisible barrier appeared in front of Blue Rose. It was weak, but... it was just strong enough.

The cylinder bounced off of it and sailed through the air back at the monster.

"...Genjiro...sama…"

 _ **Bang.**_

.

.

.

Blue Rose was lying collapsed on the ground. It had been only minutes since they defeated the insect maid. They had immediately downed their remaining potions and were now recovering.

Gagaran's heart rate had finally come down to a manageable speed. "I can't believe we're alive. I don't want to think about what would've happened if you didn't have enough mana for [Reflection]."

Evileye was a vampire and thus had no heartbeat. "Let's not talk about this ever again. I still have some of her guts in my hair."

Half of the entomancer's body was still intact, but her entire right side had blown up in the explosion and now the courtyard was colored in her thick orange blood.

"Still, I wonder what that last attack was-"

"-My original plan once I got here was so taunt you before killing you."

The members of Blue Rose looked up to see a winged, masked demon descending from the murky sky above. His voice was emotionless, yet it somehow made them feel on edge.

"But now I find myself being incredibly- _Unhappy_."

Every instinct in Evileye was screaming at her to flee. Something told her that the being that had appeared before her was an order of magnitude stronger than the insect maid.

He landed to where what remained left of the maid. He picked her up in his arms.

What he said next sounded gut wrenchingly genuine, "I'm sorry, this is my fault for not getting here sooner."

He teleported the corpse away and glared at Blue Rose.

Evileye was washed with a wave of killing intent more powerful than she had ever experienced in her 250-plus years of life. She was paralyzed and tried to warn her comrades.

"..Tia...Gagaran...run…"

The demon's voice was overwhelming "No. Kill yourselves."

Evileye watched in horror as, instead of running away, Tia drew her dagger and slit her own throat. She dropped to the ground, dead. Gagaran immediately pried the dagger from Tia's hand and followed her example

The demon started walking closer to Evileye, but there was nothing she could do, she was paralyzed with an innate, instinctual fear.

"I think there is someone who would be very happy to have you alive. Know that people who harm one of our own do not get off lightly."

The demon was nearing ever closer. "I had hopped to pull this task off in a flawless fashion, but it seems I have made an error and now one of our own is dead."

He was only meters away now, Evileye could see the hate in his eyes behind the mask. "I will reiterate, I am very _unhappy_."

Evileye knew her time had come. _This is it, this is where I die._

The demon reached down and-

A thunderous crash was heard and in front of Evileye was a wall of black metal, and a flowing red cape.

His voice shattered the night, "Prepare yourself, demon."

.

.

The fight that had taken place between Jaldabaoth and Momon could only be described in folk song and legend. She had been in Momon's arms the whole time and couldn't get a clear view, but she still felt the power and speed of the blows. However Jaldabaoth had managed to escape Momon's onslaught after warning that he would return shortly to destroy the rest of the capital.

Evileye was now looking and talking about events face to face with the mighty warrior who had saved her. Nabe was standing behind him.

"Once more, thank you for your help."

Momon's voice was deep, but it held warmth. "Think nothing of it. As I was asking earlier, could you tell me what exactly happened here?"

Evileye nodded, and began recounting the events that had come to pass. What she knew, what they'd planned to do, and the story of their encounter with the insect maid.

As she was recanting the near end of the battle, Momon spoke up.

"Did you kill her?"

His words were flat, but there was clear anger behind them. Nabe's eyes were filled with wrath.

Evileye was alarmed, but she decided to finish telling the story.

"Well, yes. I defeated her by reflecting her final attack back at her."

Suddenly Momon drew his sword and swung it down through the air directly at her. It was so fast her eyes couldn't track it. It stopped inches away from splitting her skull open.

"Sorry, I thought I saw a fly."

Momon's voice was incredibly hard to read, it was a mixture of hatred and grief, but they were also chillingly cold.

Evileye was shaking. She saw death for but a mere moment. "N-no, p-problem… M-m-momon-s-sama."

After standing with his sword there for many more moments, Momon's mood seemed to forcefully calm down. He sheathed his sword and did something else that was hard to see, but it looked like he put his hand on Nabe's sword to stop her from drawing it.

*Cough*, "Anyways, we should regroup with the other adventurers, We'll meet up with you later. Right now I need to discuss something with Nabe in private."

Evileye was still shaking from the "fly" incident, but Momon's words made sense and she nodded as Momon and Nabe walked away. She started heading back to the bodies of her fallen comrades to await Lakyus's resurrection magic, choosing to remember the time she spent in the mighty warrior's arms instead of the conversation afterwards.

.

.

"I don't think she'll be able to hear us here."

"It would be very difficult to listen in on us from so far away."

"Even so, we should still be prepared."

Ainz activated a cash item. It had the power to prevent eavesdropping, but it felt like a waste because it was a one-use item. However, he had no choice.

"I will make one thing very clear right away. We must not tell anyone of Entoma's death, especially not Genjiro-san. If he knew, I can't begin to imagine what he would do. We will return to Nazarick and resurrect her as soon as possible after we work through Demiurge's scheme."

"But-"

"Narberal. I was inches away from splitting that girls head open, you were about to do the same. So what do you think Genjiro-san will do if he finds out?" Even as he was saying this, his undead passive was firing.

"..."

"I understand Narberal. I promise we will avenge your sister, but right now we need to remain focused. We are the adventurers Momon and Nabe, and we need to act accordingly."

"I understand, lord Ainz"

Ainz's undead passive had calmed him down to the point where he could now just barely resume business, "Good. Now, I need you to send a few messages to Demiurge for me."

.

.

The adventurers of the capital had gathered under princess Renner's flag to discuss battle strategy for Jaldabaoth's imminent second attack. The plan was for a united front of adventurers and city guard to encircle the main mass of demons while Darkness and Blue Rose act as an arrow head to lead an assault on Jaldabaoth himself. After a successful briefing and meet and greet, a few of the more important figures went to discuss things in more detail in a back room.

 _Narberal and I haven't recieved any messages from Nazarick yet so fortunately it seems Genjiro-san doesn't know._

The youth in white armor who had been listening quietly to the conversation thus far suddenly broke his silence.

"Forgive me, Princess,"

"What is it?"

"I know another two people who could become arrows for this formation. They're men with overwhelming fighting power. Would it be all right to ask for their aid? One arrow is good, but three would be better, and if they all helped each other, I am sure they could defeat any demon that showed itself, no matter how powerful it was."

"What's this, Climb? Are you saying the Momon-sama I recommended isn't enough?"

Evileye's words had a razor-sharp edge to them. Climb's eyes trembled with fear.

"No, no, of course not. That was never my intention-"

"Momon-sama is the strongest warrior in existence. I daresay that rather than helping him, the people you recommended would be nothing more than a handicap."

The katana-wielding warrior, Brain, stepped in to defend Climb.

"That might not be so. I too have seen the people Climb speaks of. Their strength is extraordinary. Using a strange weapon, they were each able to fell a member of the six-arms in one blow. If we could at least borrow their weapons, it would no doubt be a tremendous help.

Before Evileye could retort, Ainz asked a question.

"They sound very interesting. What kind of people are they?"

Climb proudly stated their names.

"Their names are Sebas and Zen."

"...Could you go into more detail?"

After Climb's explanation, Ainz nodded.

 _That really is Genjiro-san and Sebas! How had they come in contact with Climb? What kind of relationship did they have? I only skimmed the reports and I was busy so I don't know. I'll just have to trust Genjiro-san and go along with it._

"Umu, Yes. That is definitely my brother Zen, and the butler serving under our family, Sebas."

Evileye was the first to react, "What! You have a brother Momon-san?"

"Yes, is that so surprising?"

Brain spoke up. "Yes. I thought it might be something like that. When you took your helmet off during the meeting, I realized that you had the same foreign face as Zen."

"Yes, Zen is very powerful just like me. However, he is also a shrewd scholar and entrepreneur. He is currently in the process of setting up a trading company in E-Rantel. We ran into each other on my way here to the city, but they were already leaving, so I'm sure they're long gone by now. But if you're looking for his guns-"

 _You gave these to me and said the plan was to popularize the gun, Genjiro-san. So I hope I'm making the right choice here._

The group watched as Momon grabbed two strange looking sticks from thin air. "I have two on me right now. I can show you how to fire and reload them, but using them accurately and effectively will take practice."

 _I don't want to give them the powerful ones right now, so they'll have to make do with these._

He then pulled out a small satchel filled with a grey powder and a tiny box filled with bits of metal.

"The power of the shot is greatly determined by the ammunition being used. I only have iron and mythril bullets right now, so you'll have to make do with these. They should still be good for taking out low to mid tier demons."

He slid them across the table. No one in Blue Rose seemed like they wanted to touch them, but Climb and Brain immediately picked them up and started to investigate them.

"Thank you, Momon-sama, we'll return them as soon as possible." Both of them bowed across the table.

"Keep them. Think of them as a gift on behalf of my brother. Im sure he would be pleased to know they're getting some use."

Renner saw that everything was beginning to wrap up so she decided to close the meeting. "Then, everyone, I beseech all the gods to allow everyone here to come back alive and victorious... our hopes rest on all of you. May fortune favor you."

After listening to Renner pray with her head bowed low, Ainz and the others quietly exited the room.

.

.

Genjiro was sitting at his desk in front of a series of tubes and flasks and mumbling to himself. He added a drop of liquid to one of the flasks and it started heat up rapidly. "...Hmmm yes, I see it works the same in this world as it did back on earth…"

He heard the sound of violent knocking on his door, followed by a panicked voice. "Genjiro-sama! Genjiro-sama!"

Without looking up from his work he called to whoever it was behind the door. "Yes yes, the door is unlocked, come in."

A panicked homunculus maid hurriedly opened the door and stepped into the room and bowed sloppily. "Genjiro-sama! I-It-t-s a-about..!"

She was clearly panicked and unstable and could barely speak, but Genjiro was focused on his work so he only talked out the side of mouth. "Calm down. Speak clearly. I can't understand you."

The maid took a deep, shaky breath, before continuing."It's about Entoma-sama!"

Genjiro's hands stopped and he stood up. He was now looking at the maid.

His words were very calm and succinct. "What did you say?"

The maid took another shaky breath. "Entoma-sama. She.. She…"

"She what?"

"She…!"

"...!"

The flask on the table shattered because he didn't cool it down intime

 **Due to the nature of this chapter, It was inevitably going to be a bit jumpy so i apologize if it was a bit hard to read, and hope that you know enough Overlord to fill in the gaps. And as always, thank you for reading!**


	10. Disturbed

Amongst the countless burning buildings, Lakyus was doing everything she could to hold the barricade along with her men. Their job was to maintain the barricade so that no demons could get past and interfere with Momon and Jaldabaoth's duel. And while she was an adamantite adventurer, and she had two teams of orachalcum adventuerers as well as dozens of city guards with her, It was easier said than done.

They were being pushed back by wave after wave of hell hounds and low-tier flying imps, and the situation was turning grim.

"Fall-"

Just as Lakyus was about to give the command to retreat, she gasped as a new demon descended from the sky.

It was roughly three meters tall, and its muscular body was covered in reptilian scales. It had a tail that resembled a snake. Its head was a goat skull, and its eyes were beads of blue fire in empty black sockets. And in its arms, it held a gigantic warhammer.

"- This is bad."

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "We'll hold it back, you should escape."

It was one of the oricalchum adventurers. "If you're alive, you can use resurrection magic. Because of that, you have to make it back alive, no matter what. The rest of us are counting on you to revive us."

The other orichalcum adventurers were peeling off from the group and forming up to take on the demon.

Lakyus knew what they were saying were true. And seeing the carefree way in which they went to their deaths, Lakyus bit her lip and turned away to lead the retreat through the enclosing horde.

"Break out with all your strength! As long as you can walk away in the end it'll be fine!"

With that, Lakyus charged the demonic hordes, raising the sword of darkness Kilineyram in her hands. Abandoning the nearly-broken defensive line, she prepared to carve a crimson road through the demons.

It felt like she was being ripped to shreds, her flesh pierced by daggers, forcing Lakyus to grit her teeth against the pain that assailed her.

"Haaaaaaa!"

Lakyus channelled most of her remaining mana into Kilineyram.

"Super move! [Dark Blade Mega Impact]!"

With a horizontal sweep, black power flowed out in a vast, slashing wave. The lower ranking demons were reduced to dust by the explosive burst of energy.

"Still... not... enough?!"

Lakyus' tired eyes could only see a wall of low-tier demons. Although she had just blown away so many of them in one stroke, the breach she made had been immediately filled back up.

Could she break through? Lakyus' unease began growing again. Kilineyram had returned to its original dimensions.

She was at her limit. Then-

 _ **B-B-BANG-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BANG-B-B-B-BANG-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BANG.**_

It was the sound of a rolling thunderstorm. The bangs were sharp and potent. The wall of demons in front of her were thinned down in an instant. Revealing a line royal guards behind them. And behind even them was the royal coach of King Ranpossa III.

They were wielding strange staves at their shoulders and Lakyus realized that they were using the "guns" that Momon had shown them earlier. And standing at the head of them was-

"-Stronoff, Gagaran, Tia!"

Gazef held his sword in the air and bellowed orders.

"His Majesty so declared- 'are you to protect this lifeless city, or me?' There can only be one answer to that. To guard the King's body is my duty. That being the case, this is a battlefield where we must fight! Team one, reload! Team two, bayonets forward! Charge!"

"RAWWWWWWW!"

Gazeff led a charge into the remaining demons that survived the initial volley. The royal guard had blades attached to the ends of their guns and skewered the demons trying to escape. Gagaran and Tia flanked and killed the stragglers.

Lakyus stared in awe as her teammates and the royal guard obliterated the demons. They joined her at her side.

"Happy to see us?" Tia and Gagaran were all grins.

Lakyus was speechless "-How did.. How"

Gazef was the one to answer.

"On our way here we ran into that man in the grey cloak."

Gazef gestured to where the king was and out from behind the coach stepped an auspicious grey cloak.

Immediately the area dropped in temperature, the figure was radiating pure, unadulterated hatred. Lakyus gulped.

"Yes. He said his name was Zen. I was scared stiff when I saw him as well. But he demonstrated the power of these weapons called "guns" and started handing them out like candy, and now we've been clearing wave after wave of demons. I don't think he's our enemy at least. And at the very least, he doesn't seem to like demons one bit."

 _Zen? Isn't that that the name of Momon-san's brother?_

The hooded figure was walking towards them. Or rather, he was walking toward the reptilian goat demon behind them that the orichalcum adventurers were still fighting.

As he was getting closer, shivers ran down the three of their backs. The hooded figure was wearing a featureless white mask that completely hid his face.

"...Kill…..demon…"

Lakyus could hear him mumbling as he got closer.

"...Kill...demi…."

He walked straight through the middle of them without even looking at them. As he walked past Lakyus, time seemed to slow down, she could feel pure malice falling off of him in sheets. It made her want to vomit.

He walked past them and headed to the guards that were still manning the barricades. They were watching as the orichalcum adventurers were being thrown around by the goat demon. Zen put his hands on the guards and threw them aside as if the weighed nothing. He stepped past the barricade and stood face to face with the goat demon.

"...Kill….demon…."

The goat demon sensed the power and killing intent radiating off the cloaked figure and realized that it needed to flee. The moment it turned his head however-

 _ **Crash.**_

Half of the demon's head shattered, showering the spectators in bone fragments. Zen was holding his sword that was still in it's scabbard. The gentle glow from the sword's pommel and the sun on the scabbard gave off the complete opposite feeling than the one wielding it.

Lakyus, the guards, and the adventurers were stunned.

Gazef, Tia, and Gagaran simply shook their heads.

"The guy has been smashing the head in of every demon we've seen since we got here. From what we've gathered from his mumbling, he's going after a certain demon named Demi-something. Oh?"

The demon was holding its hands to its face and had fled around a corner. Zen was still mumbling and about to chase after it when suddenly he turned his head to look down one of the burning alleyways. It seemed like he suddenly noticed something.

The words he said next rocked them to the core. They were two perfectly simple words, but the only way that Lakyus could describe them was- _Evil._

"... _ **Found you**_ …"

Zen disappeared without a trace and the oppressive atmosphere lightened.

Lakyus felt like she could speak again. "The Dark Warrior Momon has one hell of a scary brother."

.

.

A katana wielding warrior, a boy in shining white armor, and a thief stood hunched over in a dark alleyway taking deep breaths like they had just been running for a long time.

"I think we're safe. If she really wanted to catch us, there is no doubt we would be dead by now."

"But if that was really the Shaltear you said was overwhelmingly powerful, how come you didn't use the guns Momon-sama gave us?"

Climb gestured to the guns that were strapped to his and Brain's back.

"Climb-kun. This was about testing my mettle, if I had to resort to using a weapon that I had just gotten, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror. My soul is in my steel, and I'm unsure about these fancy things."

Brain was smiling jubilantly now. "And besides, I managed to cut off her fingernail! All my training since we last met hasn't been in vain."

Climb and Lockmyer didn't really understand but they could see that Brain's pride was genuine.

"Anyways, let's keep moving. We'll use the guns only if we have to."

"Hai!"

The three of them made their way through a maze of alleyways, they traveled a long time, but they didn't hear too much commotion. Until-

"What's gotten your attention, thief?

"Quiet down. Do you hear that?"

Lockmyer beckoned everyone to crouch down.

Brain's ears twitched. "Yes, I think hear it."

"W-What is it, an enemy?" Climb was trying his best to listen in.

"Yes, It sounds like fighting, and a lot of it."

"We must be nearing one of the barricade points. You two aren't as specialised in scouting so you shouldn't be able to hear it, but-"

Lockmyer put his hand to his ear. "Yes, that is definitely the roar of a demon, and a big one at that. It sounds like it's fighting a large amount of people. Let's check out the scene."

Brain and Climb nodded wordlessly and followed behind the thief.

As the got closer, the air was turning hotter and redder due to the fires. After they turned the final corner they saw a crumbling barricade manned by terrified city guards. They were struggling to fight off wave after wave of hell hounds.

"Shouldn't there be adventures with them?"

Lockmyer pointed to in front of the barricade. "Look."

Climb followed his finger and his eyes widened.

It was a reptilian goat demon. It was nearly the height of two grown men and its head was the skull of a goat. It was pulling out a massive warhammer from the bloody pulp of an adventurer.

"Look at its face."

Climb looked again and saw that half of it's face was missing, like someone had smashed it with tremendous force.

Brain drew his sword, "We're helping them, let's go."

"Hai!"

The three of them rushed in to join the exhausted and injured adventures who were fighting.

They were keeping their distance from the demon when they saw the three of them step before them.

They noticed the gleaming white armor. "Aren't you guys working for the princess?"

"That's right, we heard the commotion and came to help."

"Thanks, but be careful. That demon's strength is unreal, even if it's already injured. Getting hit by that hammer is a guaranteed death."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind. We'll take it from here, go and support the guards manning the barricade. Thief! Climb! Get ready!"

"Hai!"

Brain crouched down and used [Field], his plan was to finish the demon in one strike while Lockmyer and Climb distracted it.

Climb began to taunt the demon from a safe distance while Lockmyer began throwing daggers and powders.

They did their job and the demon let out a mighty roar as it fell for the taunt. The powders and daggers enraged and blinded it as it chased Climb.

"Brain-sama! Now!"

"I'm on it!"

Climb led the demon straight into Brain's [Field]. The moment it stepped in-

"[Wind of the Great Forest]!" Brain's trump card, and the combination of [Field] and [God Flash].

Brain cleared the distance between him and the disoriented demon in an instant.

He had expected to completely cut the demon in two, but instead he had only made a deep gash in its side. His sword became stuck in its sinewy flesh.

The demon roared in pain dropping it's warhammer and turned his attention to Brain who was still trying to free his sword.

"Shit-"

The demon reached down and smacked Brain with the back of his hand, launching him into the rubble of a burning building.

"Brain-san!"

Lockmyer quickly lept behind the demon and using both hands, thrust his dagger square into its scaly back. However the same thing happened and it became locked in the demon's scaley hide.

The demon roared in pain once again and began desperately trying to shake Lockmyer off its back who was still hanging from the dagger.

It charged backwards into the building and smashed the thief against the wall. Lockmyer instantly went limp and fell to the ground unconscious.

The demon dragged itself to where it dropped its warhammer and picked it up. The katana was still stuck in its side.

It marched up to the critically injured Brain.

The demon raised its massive hammer and brought it down straight onto the defenseless Brain when-

 _ **Bang.**_

A bullet dug itself into its shoulder and it turned around to see a boy in dazzling white armor holding a smoking gun.

It immediately forgot about the human it was about to crush and charged the boy.

It fought through the pain and used its hoofed feet to rush the puny boy. Climb was too slow and couldn't dodge in time. Once again, the demon raised it's hammer preparing to bludgeon the boy like a pancake when-

 _ **Bang.**_

It was a lucky shot, the bullet dug into it's back and destroyed it's heart. The demon died mid sprint and fell face first, smashing the rest of it's skull on the ground. It's lifeless body skidded and stopped at Climb's feet.

Brain rose from the rubble and fanned the smoke away from his face.

"I guess keeping one of these things on hand isn't too bad an idea."

.

.

While Nabe was engaging the demon maids "Beta" and "Epsilon", Evileye was fending off her own opponents "Alpha" and "Delta". She was managing well, but her fight was only to keep her opponents away from the true battle being fought between Momon and Jaldabaoth. They had crashed into a building last time she saw of them. She prayed that her dark hero was alright.

While this was happening, Ainz was completely unharmed and having a chat with Demiurge in said building. Along with Mare who stood behind them.

"Then I leave the battle damage to you."

"Assuredly. Mare, send the signal. It will be an earthquake, like the last time."

"But before we being Demiurge, I must ask. What did you do with her body?"

Demiurge shifted because he wasn't sure what Ainz had thought of his failure to protect Entoma, and he was dreading the question. "I sent it back to Nazarick. Do not worry, I made sure that the maids would attend to it."

"The homunculi maids?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"Did you tell them to keep quiet about it?"

"Well, no. At the time I saw no reason to….."

"..."

Demiurge trailed off and both he and Ainz stared in fear at the gate that had appeared in between them. They both knew without a doubt who was coming.

As if being dragged by a puppet master attached to invisible strings, a man in a grey cloak and textureless white mask advanced from the gate's black maw. The gravity of the room felt to increase tenfold, crushing them under the sheer mass of killing intent he exuded

His voice could only be described as sociopathic, he spoke like a man possessed by a malicious spirit, devoid of all rational thinking.

" _ **I've made a very interesting scientific discovery today."**_

The mask slid from his face and collided with the wooden floor. The eyes of the supreme being were a deep ruby-amethyst, but to the onlooker, the amethyst had disappeared, leaving only rage.

" _ **Fallen Seraph's don't have tear ducts."**_

Ainz's undead passive was firing in full force. "G-Genjiro-san-"

" _ **According to James-Lange theory, the emotions we can feel in earnest are dependent on our physiology."**_

Mare was on the ground shaking madly like a terrified dog, he had lost control of his bladder due to the unrestrained killing intent that only a supreme being could produce.

" _ **So, since I find myself unable to cry, where do you suppose all of that grief goes, Demiurge?"**_

Demiurge had vomited under the pressure and was unable to speak. Ainz was trying his best to stand up, but even he was paralyzed under the oppressive aura of his friend.

" _ **I saw the body, and I know what caused it."**_

Ainz did everything he could to avoid looking at his friend's madly contorting face.

" _ **After Alfred Nobel's invention killed his beloved little brother, he realized on his deathbed that he was the scum of the earth and dedicated his fortune to peace and ingenuity. I don't know if I am capable of such honest philanthropy."**_

A pair of obsidian feathered wings sprouted from his back and quivered like they intended to slay the sky itself. He turned his gaze and bore a hole straight into Ainz's soul.

" _ **Tell me Momonga. Can she be resurrected?"**_

Ainz struggled to reply "Y-Yes."

Genjiro's demeanor changed subtly, like he had gained just a touch of rationality. He moved his gaze onto Demiurge who was collapsed on the ground, performing a dogeza in his own vomit.

His voice no longer sounded sociopathic, but it was still just as murderous. " _ **Do you seek punishment for your failure to protect her, Demiurge? I am more than willing to provide it."**_

Demiurge shouted through his retching like his life depended on it "H-Hai!"

" _ **You are an irreplaceable asset to Nazarick, you are not allowed to die. You will not flee and you will fight to your last breath to survive."**_

Demiurge planted his face in the ground. "Hai!"

At some point in the conversation, Genjiro had cast [Perfect Touch] and had stolen the distracted Ainz's armor.

He had equipped the armor and hidden his wings under it with an illusion. He picked up Jaldabaoth's mask that had been lying on the table.

" _ **So be it. Look at me, Demiurge."**_

It took every fibre of Demiurge's being, but he slowly forced his face up and looked into the slot of Momon's helmet, Genjiro's eyes burned brightly behind it. But he only saw it for a moment.

Genjiro smashed the mask into his face, practically surgically attaching it to him. The force of the hit caused the now masked Jaldabaoth to crash out of the building and into the courtyard below. The Dark Hero followed in pursuit.

Ainz and Mare stood paralyzed looking at the hole in the building they had just made. Mare's voice was shaky, he was still shivering in his pool of urine. "S-Should we s-stop them?"

Ainz shakily stood up from his chair. Now that his friends oppressive aura was gone, his undead passive was effective once again and Ainz could calm down and think rationally again. "Even if we wanted to, it would be difficult to do so without someone getting seriously injured, and we've already lost one member of our family tonight."

He pulled a towel from his pocket dimension and gave it to Mare.

"I'm sure this is what Demiurge was seeking as well, and I'm not comfortable giving punishments. And something about Genjiro-san made me think that he still had a little bit of rationality in him. Even though I do not like it, let's trust him not to do anything too rash."

.

Evileye was still fighting the two maids when she heard a crash and looked over at the courtyard below the building Momon had just crashed into. Her unbeating heart raced with joy as she realised it was Jaldabaoth who had been struck. When she saw the dark hero emerge from the building she-

 _What happened to Momon-sama? What's this aura coming from him?_

She was far away from the battle and couldn't see too well, but she noticed that Momon had put away his swords and switched to a sinister one handed mace. But more than that, she noticed that the feeling of their duel had turned into that of a hunt. Jaldabaoth had changed as well; he was no longer a cocky and composed archdemon, but a mouse fleeing from and owl.

In her unbeating heart she felt- _scared_

She didn't have time to analyze it however, as she was in the middle of her own battle.

.

After Genjiro jumped from the building in pursuit, he immediately pulled a one handed mace and began swinging at Demiurge. Every one of his attacks had the intent to kill behind it. Demiurge was no fool and knew that unlike Genjiro, he was not kitted for direct close combat and trying to block Genjiro's mace with his claws would cause them to break. He was desperately dodging and back pedalling to avoid the swings.

 _As an immolationist, he posses immunity to the fire element and in exchange is weak to the holy element. And as a Fallen Seraph, he resists the evil element and is weak to the holy element once again. If only I knew...Curses!_

Genjiro brought his mace down and Demiurge didn't have time to dodge. He put his claws up to guard and they were immediately shattered. Genjiro brought his foot up and kicked him hard into the building behind him.

 _Gah! All my high tier magic is of the fire and evil element. I need to rely on summons._

Genjiro walked menacingly towards him as Demiurge struggled to get up from the rubble, "[Summon High-!]"

 _ **Bang.**_

The demon that Demiurge tried to summon instantly exploded. Genjiro was holding a smoking gun in his left hand.

"That was an enchanted ichorium bullet, _Jaldabaoth._ Please don't think i'm cheating."

The gun disappeared and was immediately replaced by an identical one. "I don't have jacketed rounds yet, so you'll have to deal with single shots for now." _**Bang.**_

Demiurge felt a sharp pain in his hand and realized one of his fingers was blown off. _There's no hope. Even if he has a much smaller health pool because his body is just a possessed doll, I still lose the DPS war because he resists all my powerful magic. And I don't know how many bullets he has. Gah!_

Genjiro sweeped his mace and it collided with Demiurge's side. He flew out of the building and back into the courtyard. _I can't do this. I've failed the supreme beings. I don't have the will to live anymore-_

"Stand up Jaldabaoth! You must fight with all of your strength!"

Demiurge slowly staggered to his feet. He felt the rage behind that black helmet. He wanted to lie down and offer his life, but- _That's right. I was ordered to fight to my last breath. This is my punishment, I must face it gracefully._

"[Aspect of the Devil: Archdemon's Wrist]! [Aspect of the Devil: Tentacle Wings]!" Demiurge sprouted several feathered tentacles from his back and his hands grew in size by several orders of magnitude.

He slashed down hard on the dark warrior before him. Genjiro brought his mace up to defend. Demiurge used his enlarged hands to grapple the mace, and once it was occupied, his tentacles arched from behind his back and launched razored feathers at him.

The feathers slashed into the dark armor and left sizeable cut marks.

Suddenly Genjiro's voice turned very soft. "Besides, this is my punishment too."

"What-"

Genjiro raised his foot and kicked him hard in the chest. As Demiurge was launched back, Genjiro pulled out another gun. _**Bang.**_

"[Time Acceleration]!" Demiurge slowed time down for just barely long enough to use his tentacles to maneuver out of the bullet's path. It zoomed past him and made a blinding white explosion behind him. _That must have been enchanted with the holy element._

"[Frost of Judecca]!" A blue frost enveloped Genjiro rooting him in place. "[Lucifer's Fist]!" His enhanced fist accelerated at unreal speed towards the rooted Genjiro.

"[Skill: Translocation]" Genjiro switched places with Demiurge as he was charging. Demiurge appeared where Genjiro was recently rooted and sailed fist first into the wall of another building. _I forgot, he has the escape artist job class._

Genjiro ran towards the disoriented Demiurge "[Quick Step]" his next footfall immediately teleported him forward. He brought his mace down hard on Demiurge's back.

Demiurge tried to flee in the opposite direction but- "Ahg!"

Genjiro's grabbed the mace with both hands and smashed down hard, shattering the end of Demiurge's metallic tail.

Demiurge turned and fought through the pain, seeing the opening Genjiro's downward swing brought him, "[Lucifer's Fist]!"

.

Evileye heard a crash and saw her dark hero sailing up through the air like he had been hit by something with tremendous force. She saw the shape of a giant fist implanted squarely in his chest.

Even Though she was still locked in battle, she screamed to him, "Momon-sama!"

When Momon reached the zenith of his arc, she saw something she didn't expect. In mid air he pulled out a rifle and shot down at where she assumed Jaldabaoth must have been. The bullet made a faint golden streak through the air and the ground burst into a blindingly white explosion. _I guess guns really are powerful is Momon-sama is using them._

"Don't take your eyes off of me!" The maid named Alpha called out to her and Evileye barely avoided a gauntleted fist.

 _I need to finish this battle and support Momon-sama as soon as possible._

.

Demiurge was blinded by the flash of holy light and couldn't keep track of Genjiro who was sailing through the air away from him. He heard his voice faintly through the sound of crashing ruble.

"[Skill: Assassinate]."

 _Curses-! Gah!_

Genjiro teleported behind him and smashed his mace squarely into Demiurges back. He felt the pain of his spine breaking. The dark hero was not done however.

He planted the sinister black mace into his back once more. Shattering the bones in his back once more into even smaller pieces

The pain was so intense that Demiurge could only silently scream. He dropped to the ground and rolled. Genjiro put his foot on his stomach to stop his rolling. He leaned down and ripped the demon's mask off.

He punched Demiurge flat in the face.

He punched again. And again. And again. And again.

Genjiro kept beating him like a man possessed until the demon's face was unrecognizable.

Demiurge could no longer fight back. He was only making barely audible grunting noises. Then-

Genjiro slowed down. He stopped.

He sounded tired, "My fist hurts like hell. Let's finish this."

Genjiro reached down and grabbed his shattered tail. He swung Demiurge around by the tail and threw him straight into the building that Ainz and Mare were in. Demiurge crashed through the wall and onto the floor, barely conscious.

Genjiro jumped up into the room and strided in.

He phased out of the armor ignoring Ainz and Mare who were in the room staring in shock at the unexpected state Demiurge was in.

Genjiro's body was covered with scars and one of his wings hung limply. His hand was completely bruised and swollen. Demiurge was twitching on the floor, but he was still very much alive.

Genjiro looked down on Demiurge's dilapidated form. His face was simply a mass of red.

Genjiro's voice was no longer insane. Now it was simply cold, "Heal yourself up, you still have work to do."

Demiurge's reply was barely audible. "...Hai…"

Genjiro dropped Jaldabaoth's mask on the floor and teleported away without looking or saying a word to anyone else.

.

.

The battle between the Dark Warrior Momon and the Demon King Jaldabaoth had ended with Momon's complete and utter victory. At least that is how it appeared to Evileye.

Momon's armor was badly damaged but he stood tall, and the evil presence she had felt from him earlier was nowhere to be found. He only seemed a little depressed for some reason.

Jaldabaoth could barely stand. His mask fit poorly on his face and his words were pained. However in a scheme befitting a demon king, he had taken the lives of countless humans hostage by way of threatening to use his demon hordes to rampage through the city upon his death.

Momon had spared his life and Jaldabaoth retreated to the demonic realm along with his maids.

Evileye walked along with her mighty warrior who was currently using Nabe as a crutch. She was slightly peeved that he wasn't leaning on her, but with their size difference, his choice made sense.

She couldn't help but stare at his right gauntlet which had been stained scarlet with blood and wonder what kind of battle it must have been.

For some reason the words he exchanged with her were always incredibly harsh, like she had done something to offend him.

"Evileye-san, we'll be taking our leave now."

"What!? But you're the hero of this battle! You need to stand in front and receive our cheers!"

Momon's voice was tired but unyielding. "I said, we will be taking our leave now."

He was giving off a melancholy aura. "Nabe and I have something important we need to do. It concerns my family."

Evileye was both scared and concerned by her hero's disposition and knew that pressing the matter would not be a good idea. "I-I understand, Momon-sama."

Nabe wordlessly picked Momon up and flew away into the night sky.

.

.

Evileye returned to the rendezvous point and expected to see the countless faces of adventurers and guards who were eagerly awaiting the return of the mighty warrior, as well as patrols running around to exterminate the remaining demons. But instead she saw-

 _What the hell is this?_

No one was waiting for Momon at all, they were partying in the streets, and shouting mirthfully at each other. People were laughing and patting each other on the back and enjoying alcohol with their friends. There was music and song, and people were dancing around bonfires.

"Oi! Shorty!"

"Muscle Head! Lakyus! Tia! Tina!"

Blue Rose was standing around in the crowd and Gagaran noticed her and called her over.

Evileye hurriedly rushed through the crowd of merrymakers and made her way to them.

"The fact that you're here means that I trust that Jalda-whatsit is no more?"

"Y-Yes, Momon-sama defeated him, but he managed to talk his way out. Momon-sama said he had to deal with a family issue and left before I got here."

Evileye looked around at the faces of Blue Rose but no one seemed too interested. She was getting annoyed and gestured around her.

"But what is all of this? Shouldn't there still be demons all over the place? How come everyone is idling around? And more importantly, why has everyone seem to forgot about Momon-sama!?"

"Oi, easy there shorty, look around you."

Evileye looked around and saw people hugging and laughing, but she also saw that many of them were holding guns.

"Do you remember Momon-san mentioning he had a brother, someone named Zen?"

Evileye nodded.

"Well he showed up out of nowhere and started giving everyone guns. Stronoff-san and the royal guards have been showing everyone how to use them."

Gagaran pointed to where Gazef was, he was grinning while talking to the king about something.

"We were able to clear wave after wave of demons in no time at all. We were able to save the lives of countless guardsmen and adventures. And look over there."

Gagaran pointed to a group of three people who were happily laughing around a bonfire "You remember Brain Unglaus and that Climb kid. They took out a giant high-level demon using the guns that Momon-san gave them. Granted, I heard It was weakened, but it's still impressive."

She put her big muscled hands on Evileye's shoulders. "So sorry shorty, but your boyfriend's old news. Everyone is talking about guns at the moment."

Suddenly the crowd fell silent. Gazef had stepped out of the crowd and climbed atop a mountain of rubble. Smiles were appearing on everyone's faces because they all knew what he was about to do next.

Gazef drew his sword and held in his right hand. And in his left hand, he drew the rifle that was strapped to his back. He thrust both of the weapons in the air and led the men in a victory cry.

"OOOHHHRAWWWWWWW"

Adventurers and guards alike thrust their weapons and rifles in the air and joined the call.

" **OOOHHHRAWWWWWWW"**

The Dark Hero Momon was nowhere to be found amongst the crowd, but no one seemed to mind. Because from that day onward, the rifle was forever known as the true victor of the demonic disturbance, and humanity's ultimate weapon against evil.


	11. A Return to Relative Peace

In the throne room of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick stood three heteromorphic beings: A skeletal overlord, a doppelganger, and a destagiest possesing a human body. They wanted as little people as possible to see this.

Ainz turned to the corner of the the throne room and lifted the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in the air. The gems in each of the seven serpents mouth's gleamed.

"Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, resurrect!"

The mountain of 50 million gold coins turned from a solid pile into a flowing metal river. The softly glowing golden river coalesced into the shape of young heteromorphic girl. Her silhouette looked like human who had two extra sets of limbs sprouting from her back. The glow disappeared to reveal the head of an arachnid, sitting in it were four pairs of varying sized compound eyes. Her naked body was black exoskeleton, riddled with thin, spider-like hairs.

The air in the room was solemnly sacred, and Ainz and Pandora's Actor knew generally what to expect Entoma's true form to look like, but nevertheless, they flinched when they saw her face.

Genjiro took a deep breath. He walked up to the supine Entoma, he did his best to give the girl a warm smile.

The girl's compound eyes filled with color. Her lip bug was long gone and she spoke in her natural voice, it was grating, but it was soft and subdued. It was like a rusted merry-go-round heard from across the park, a voice that was rasping and in disrepair, but still capable of bringing joy, it was beautiful to Genjiro's ears.

"...wHeRe aM I?"

Genjiro crouched down and did his best to maintain his quivering smile, "Welcome back, Entoma dear."

"...WeLcOmE bAck…?"

She realized that she was lying naked on the throne room floor. Her memories came flooding back to her. Her humanoid-insectoid biology permitted tear ducts on her compound eyes, her voice cracked as she fought back her shame and tears.

"...I-I, I FaiLeD NaZArIck…"

"Nonsense." He embraced her, wrapping his grey cloak around her delicate frame. His eyelids were closed tightly, holding back the tears that were forming behind them.

"I'm sorry, It's all my fault."

"G-GeNjiRo-SaMa-"

"I-If I had written your personality differently so that you would run away, or if I had changed your build so that you could fight better, or if I hadn't given you that dynamite, or if I had simply gone with you-"

"gEnJiRo-sAmA!" She cried profusely. She wasn't sure if it was because she couldn't bear to hear her creator's ashamed and tortured voice, or because of her own shame for being defeated in combat. But regardless, she wanted to comfort her creator and in turn to be comforted by him.

She wrapped he limbs around him and soaked him in tears. Genjiro did the same.

The overlord and the doppelganger watched the bizarre scene of a naked humanoid-spider and a human-destageist crying and embracing each other on the throne room floor. It was obvious to them that they loved eachother very much.

Ainz watched them with painfully mixed feelings. Regret, Shame, Relief, Affection, Guilt.

Pandora's Actor felt a pain in the back of his neck. He empathized painfully with the girl, he could only begin to imagine the shame she must be feeling, to fail in combat only to be resurrected in her creators arms. He wondered how Ainz would react were he to befall a similar fate.

Ainz signalled him and they quietly left the room so that they could give them some privacy.

.

Genjiro had discovered that possessing an elder pink ooze was an effective way of regulating his emotions. Unlike his undead boyless form which forcefully cut off strong emotions, his pink ooze body seemed to regulate them in a very organic way, his mind was subdued and emotions gently calmed down over time.

He sat in a slimy puddle in Ainz's study.

They both tried to speak at the same time.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry-."

"Oh wait, you can go-"

Ainz put his hands up. "Wait, sorry, please, go ahead, Genjiro-san."

Genjiro bowed in the best way his amorphous body would permit. "I'm sorry Ainz, and I apologize to Demiurge as well who wouldn't take an apology from me. I already knew all along that she could be resurrected, and yet I still let my emotions get the better of me. I over reacted. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

"But have nothing to be sorry for-"

"I do though. This all might've been avoided if I hadn't forced you to go on that mission. You would've been teaching Entom and Demiurge might've not chosen her for his plans."

"That's not your fault though-"

"But it is. I'm sorry Genjiro-san, I guess… I guess I was jealous."

"Jealous?"

Ainz put his bony hand on his fleshless face and chuckled mockingly at himself.

"I was unbelievably happy when I saw that one of my friends had returned and had come to this world with me." Ainz had no doubt that if he had a human face, he would be blushing furiously.

"I guess I just really missed you, and when you chose to spend so much time with Entoma rather than me, I guess I got jealous. Some part of me was really annoyed and wanted to separate you. I guess our personalities really have changed since coming to this world."

He recalled the scene earlier in the throne room. How stupid he had been to try and mess with that kind of love, even if he was only doing subconsciously. He continued to ruefully mock himself.

"I-I see, wait no, that's my fault too." His slimy form sunk closer to the ground, "I should've spent more time with. I'm sorry, my friend."

"No, please, get up, It's not your fault, I was being petty."

Genjiro chuckled lightly, he had forgotten about how much of a lovable push over Ainz was.

"Same old Momonga. You just can't accept an apology can you?"

Ainz stopped and laughed lightly together with his friend. Somethings never really do change.

The air in the room had lightened and they enjoyed each other's company, the reminisced about their fun times together.

Genjiro got up to leave, work was an inevitability, regardless of what world one existed in.

"I guess I should get going now, we both still have loads of work to do."

"Yeah… Hey, Genjiro-san, are you sure you don't want to know the ones who did it? We could capture them at once with only a moment's notice."

Genjiro shook his slimy head. "No… I think it's best that we all forget about this. I don't know if I'll be able to control my emotions next time."

"I see, in that case, take care."

"You too."

Genjiro teleported away using his ring of Ainz Ooal Gown. Ainz was happy, he finally had his friend back.

.

.

Genjiro was the spitting image of a wealthy medieval businessman. He wore a light blue doublet complete with padded shoulders and extended sleeves. At his waist was a pair of tight fitting pants that hugged his body all the way down until they ended in a pair of tall buckled boots. Atop his head was a fine fur hat that perfectly concealed his hair. It was a simple but professional outfit.

Across from him was a young and fox-like man adorned with even more opulence. He wore loose fitting clothes made entirely of silk and furs. Around his neck was a gold necklace embellished with a massive walnut-sized gemstone and his fingers were practically encrusted with gold and silver. He perfectly matched the image one would expect to see from a member of the "Six Great Nobles of Re-Estize".

"So then, as agreed, here is the down payment, Mr. Zen." The fox-like man placed a small pouch of gold and platinum coins on the desk. "The rest will arrive once I've seen the rifles and the powder."

"Of course, it's a pleasure doing buisness with you Count Lytton. And I must say again that I'm honored to have such a busy and important man like you come all the way down to E-Rantel personally."

"The pleasure is all mine." Lytton hid his mischievous smile as he eyed Zen's beautiful assistant Ellie, who had been standing silently in the corner of the room.

They stood and shook hands.

As Lytton was exiting the room, Zen stood and bowed along with Ellie. Once the door closed, Zen fell back down into his chair, exhausted.

"What a pedophilic sleeze bag, I could've sworn he was going to ask how much I would be willing to sell you for."

Entoma was wearing a light blue kimono-esque dress and a silk cap that hid her antena. She walked over to her creator, "dO YoU WAnt ME tO kIll HIm, GEnJIrO-SaMA?"

"No, no. As much as I don't like it, we need trash like him alive. Because of their involvement in the demonic disturbance, the popularity of firearms is through the roof. And because the security division of the eight-fingers is no more, many of the wealthier people have been trying to outfit their own private forces with rifles."

Genjiro took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair. "We need to appear as a professional and legitimate business so that nobles and royalty can put their trust in us. And that includes not killing people and wearing these tacky clothes."

He stood and picked up the pouch of coins on the desk. He then placed his hand on Entoma's capped head, "Anyways, that was the last noble for today, let's go shopping."

.

Zen and Ellie walked side by side through E-Rantel's busy streets as they made their way towards the Aarden Mining Company.

Although they were right next to each other, they were conversing via [Message], not only because they were discussing the forbidden knowledge known as science, but also because Entoma's voice would be a clear give away that they weren't human.

"When manufacturing different kinds of chemicals, you'll often need to use something called a catalyst."

"A CaTAlyST?"

"Yes, a catalyst is a material that serves as a surface and helps your desired reaction, but does not actually undergo any chemical changes itself. As such, catalysts can be reused and you usually won't need too much of what ever it is. Regardless, certain specific catalysts are necessary for many of the reactions we have planned."

Zen was marching along next to Ellie with his finger raised like a professor, which looked odd to the onlookers, since to them it looked like he was completely silent.

"For the reaction that creates hydrogen gas from methane(natural gas), well need metallic nickel to serve as a catalyst. And once we mass produce ammonia from that hydrogen gas, we'll need a platinum and rhodium alloy to serve as a catalyst in creating nitric acid."

"nItRiC AcID?"

"Nitric acid: HNO3, It's incredibly useful for making all kinds of things. Along with nitric acid, we'll also want to be mass producing sulfuric acid."

"SuLFuRic AcId toO?"

"Yes, H2SO4. Like nitric acid, it is also incredibly useful. But to mass produce sulfuric acid, we'll want to have a good source of sulfur trioxide."

"iF We WAnt An OXIdE Of sUlfUr, CouLDn't We juSt BurN iT?"

"Yes, very good, but it's a little harder than that. When you burn elemental sulfur, you end up getting mostly sulfur dioxide and only a little bit of sulfur trioxide. So how do you suppose we get more of it?"

"WiTh A CaTAlYSt?"

"Exactly Entoma dear. We can react the sulfur dioxide with oxygen to get more sulfur trioxide using vanadium as a catalyst. And once we have sulfur trioxide, it's only a matter of cleverly mixing it with water to get sulfuric acid.

Anyways, having large quantities of nitric and sulfuric acid at our disposal will be integral to our future prospects."

They turned a corner and saw their destination up ahead, it was a rustic looking brick building sat on the banks of E-Rantel's river near the edge of the city. It was connected to a water wheel which Genjiro assumed was for breaking up the ores that were imported from mines outside the city.

"We could also use some zinc as well. Not only do we need it as a catalyst for another reaction we currently have planned, but also because zinc and zinc oxide are generally useful materials altogether.

So to recap, we're here to shop for metals to serve as catalysts. We'll mostly be looking for nickel, rhodium, vanadium, zinc, and any extra platinum we can get our hands on."

They walked up to the building and opened the door. It triggered a bell. _**Ding.**_

It was a bucolic noise and Genjiro felt himself relax a little. He spoke one last thing to Entoma before ending their [Message]. "Your natural voice is very beautiful Entoma dear, but I don't suggest using it in front of humans, but I'm sure you already figured that. We'll find a substitute voice eventually."

He ended the [Message] and waited for someone to arrive at the front desk. The interior of the Aarden Mining Company was rustic and crude, but it still did its best to be organized and tidy which Genjiro could respect.

The walls were brick with and supported by wooden pillars and beams. Inserted in them were large glass windows and shutters that let in natural light from the outside. At the front of the room was a hearty wooden desk and behind it was a chart that displayed the current prices for copper, iron, silver, gold, and platinum, along with other metals such as mythril, oricalchum, and adamantite.

A boorish and irritated voice was heard from the back room, "I'm coming I'm coming."

A gruffy little man came around the corner to greet them. He had messy red hair and a boastfully large beard, and if he was any shorter he could easily be mistaken for a dwarf.

He immediately noticed the rich clothing that Zen and Ellie were wearing and straightened his posture. He did his best to speak polite tone. "Sorry for my tone earlier, you two definitely aren't the dirty smiths I usually get coming through that door. I'm Mr. Aarden, how can I help you?"

"Greetings, my name is Zen and this is my assistant Ellie, I own the Darkness Trading Company that recently opened here in E-Rantel."

Ellie did a curtsy and Aarden gave her a polite nod, remembering the trading company that had appeared out of nowhere and accrued a massive fortune selling mysterious weapons.

"Allow me to get strait to the point, I'm in need of a very particular set of metals."

"A particular set of metals you say?" Aarden leaned in and continued to listen.

"Yes, I'm looking for the metals known as nickel, rhodium, vanadium, and zinc."

Aarden scratched his beard and sighed. "We've got boatloads of zinc, but I've never heard of the other three."

Zen mimicked Aarden's beard scratching, _Hmmm yes, it would make sense that he knows what zinc is because it is an important component in making brass, I just didn't expect him to know it under that name. The other three were isolated and named post 17th century however so it would be expected that he wouldn't know about those. In all likelihood, he has probably handled ores containing those metals and has just never isolated or named them._

"Mr. Zen?"

Zen realised he had been standing there silently scratching his chin and stopped his train of thought. "Hmmm? Oh yes, pardon me. I was just thinking that even if you don't recognize the names, it's likely that you have what I seek here."

"I do?"

"Yes, could I have look at all the ores you have here?"

Aarden gave Zen a dubious once over, but decided that he should probably comply out of respect for the mysterious and powerful Darkness Trading Company, and in hopes that he could turn a profit.

"Of course, please follow me."

.

 **P.S Shalltear cost 500 million gold to resurrect so I don't think 50 million for Entoma is an unreasonable amount.**


End file.
